Heart and Soul
by corinne444
Summary: This is the story of Hazel, a sixteen-year-old who (quite unwillingly) travels across the Johto region following a mysterious redheaded thief. Throughout the course of the story, she meets new people, new Pokemon, and may just find herself. Based on the games HeartGold/SoulSilver :)
1. Pigtails

I search frantically under the doormat. _Come on, come on._ Professor Elm always keeps the key to his lab under the mat outside the balcony entrance - I know only because Ethan has to get in sometimes; I've never set foot inside the place.

My fingers close around hard, cold metal. I slide out the key and fit it into the lock, hands shaking and fumbling. I turn it sharply and hear a click. I shove the door open, stumbling in my haste.

I come in on the top floor of Elm's lab. It used to be the floor where he and his family lived, but they recently relocated to an empty house across the road and now he just uses it as a storage area. Elm isn't exactly the most organized person ever, so the floor is covered with lab report piles, coffee mugs, thick books, and miscellaneous clutter.

I maneuver around the piles of papers and random assortments of junk as fast as I can without knocking anything over. I finally trip my way to the stairs, where I pause for a second.

_What am I doing?_ I have no idea what's waiting for me down there. I don't even know what I plan to _do_. I should have thought this through. I definitely should have thought this through...

I put a hand to my head. This isn't like me. I'm not the reckless risk-taker, the person who charges into things without thinking. That's Ethan.

Ethan and I have known each other since we were little. I guess you could say he's my best friend, being the _only_ friend I have. He's the only kid my age in my town, New Bark.

To quote Ethan, New Bark is about the size of a postage stamp. There are only five families that live there, and we don't have many attractions to speak of, unless you count Elm's lab or the windmills that dot our town. But to me, it's home. I've never been outside of it. Why would I leave everything I know? It's crazy to even think about.

Ethan, on the other hand, has been all over the region. He helps Professor Elm with his studies of rare Pokemon. And that's fine with me. I have absolutely zero desire to go tramp around the region, and the only Pokemon I've ever seen up close is Ethan's Marill. I've never been the adventurous one, because I haven't had to be!

But Ethan's not here right now. And this isn't about doing the thing I'm most comfortable with. This is about doing the right thing.

_Damn it._ Why couldn't someone else have had to deal with this? It's because of my stupid insomnia. It was about two in the morning, and I was just taking a walk, and...

I saw a figure. A shadowy figure trying to break into Professor Elm's lab. It definitely wasn't one of Elm's lab aides - the figure was wearing a dark jacket and dark jeans, and they looked about my height.

I didn't think. I just acted.

And now, here I am.

Well, I can't just stand here.

I hurry down the stairs, my whole body tense. I don't know what I'm going to do. Fight this mysterious person? Yeah, right. I have about as much muscle as a bowl of mashed potatoes.

I skid to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and freeze.

A boy with long, shaggy red hair and dark brown eyes is staring directly at me, frozen in the act of reaching into an official-looking safe. He's dressed in a black jacket and dark pants. His eyes are wide with surprise, but he seems to quickly recover and places a Pokeball from the safe in his jacket pocket. His face contorts into a smirk.

"Pigtails?" he says. _What?_ My hands fly up to my hair, which I've worn in pigtails practically my whole life. My face burns, and I suddenly wish I had taken them out before I came down here. Clearly, they're not exactly threatening.

"And here I thought I was in trouble!" he laughs, slowly starting to walk backwards to the door. "It just looks like a toddler wandered in here by accident...Why don't you go back to sleep?" he continues in a baby voice. "It must be _way_ past your bedtime."

I'm still frozen. This isn't at all how I pictured this happening. I mean, I didn't exactly expect the thief to cower in fear, but I definitely didn't expect them to _laugh_ and make fun of my _hair_, of all things!

Suddenly, I'm angry. He's just casually sauntering toward the exit. He seriously doesn't even expect me to _try_ and stop him. He thinks I'm a joke. He called me a TODDLER. And did he take a Pokeball from that safe? It must be one of Professor Elm's rare Pokemon. I have to stop him.

I do exactly what I did to get myself into this situation: I don't think. I just act.

I sprint from the bottom of the stairs to in front of him to cut him off from the doorway. He laughs. Actually _laughs. _

"Theft is not amusing," I say in a surprisingly even voice. My hands are shaking. Where did that comment come from? I sounded like a sarcastic police officer or something.

"No?" He says, a look of mock sincerity on his face. "Oh, well in that case, I'll put this right back." He takes the Pokeball out of his jacket pocket teasingly.

"What do you have in there?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"I don't have time for an interrogation, so if you're done playing superhero, I have to hop into my getaway car." His brown eyes are full of malice. He's just playing with me, and I know it. He could leave through the door any time he wants to.

My eyes shift to the safe behind him, and my hands start shaking harder. I have a plan, but it's completely moronic.

"Don't you know the villain never wins?" I say as nonchalantly as possible, and then kick him in the balls as hard as I can and rush over to the safe as he falls to the floor. I will say, to my credit, that his groan of pain only gave me a tiny bit of satisfaction.

I am completely crazy. I'm out of my mind. Where did this bold me come from; the one who makes sarcastic comments and kicks guys in the groin? The thought almost makes me laugh. I just kicked a guy in the groin, and now I'm going to attempt to stop him from stealing. My heart is going to explode.

I pull a random Pokeball from inside the safe. The boy is struggling to his feet, looking like he'd love to murder me slowly.

"What do you think you're doing?" he grimaces. Definitely not smiling now.

I get between him and the exit again. "Stopping you." I may never, ever have done anything like this before, but even I know how to throw a Pokeball.

I hurl the red-and-white ball at the ground and a white glow reveals a blue, scaly, crocodile-like Pokemon. It turns to look at me inquisitively, tilting its head to one side. It's kind of...cute.

"Yeah, right," the boy snorts. "I bet you've never had a Pokemon battle before. Think about what you're getting yourself into, _little girl_." He sneers the last words.

I clasp my shaking hands together and make a big show of looking at my watch and tapping my foot. He's not joking around anymore. This has gotten serious.

The little blue Pokemon in front of me is looking from me to the boy and clicking its jaw in confusion.

"Have it your way," the boy smiles, and drops his Pokeball to the ground. In a flash of white light, a pale green Pokemon with a leaf on its head appears. It makes a cute chirruping noise, and the boy looks disgusted. I swear I hear him mutter something about it getting more intimidating when it gets older.

The blue Pokemon I sent out turns and looks at me expectantly. What am I supposed to do? What moves does this thing know? How do I even command it?

"Chikorita, use Tackle!" the boy commands, shoving a hand through his red hair. His Pokemon rams mine, and the little alligator goes flying. He smirks at me. "You really don't know what you're doing, do you?"

I don't. I have absolutely no idea. But I can't let him know that. My mind is desperately racing. I have to do something before he attacks again. My eyes fall on my little Pokemon's claws...

"Use Scratch!" I say, clenching my fists and praying that the little guy knows what to do. I unclench them in relief when my Pokemon rakes Chikorita with its sharp claws.

"Chikorita, fight back already!" the boy exclaims as Chikorita takes a while getting back on its feet. Chikorita charges at my Pokemon again, but this time mine was ready for it and swipes it away with its claws.

Chikorita really looks tired now, and I allow myself to hope that I might win this. I am charged with adrenaline, pumping through my veins, keeping me awake and focused. "You can do it, little guy," I encourage my Pokemon, digging my fingernails into my palms.

The boy looks livid. "Chikorita. Get. Up." He says, tapping his foot erratically.

Chikorita staggers to its feet, but I know it won't last long. My Pokemon swipes at it one last time and it goes down for good, its eyelids fluttering shut.

"_Yes_!" Without even thinking, I scoop up my little Pokemon in a hug. "Oh my God, I can't believe I just did that!" I look at the Pokemon, which is nibbling curiously on my arm. "That _we_ just did that, I guess." I smile at it, and I swear it smiles back.

"I guess I underestimated you," I hear the boy's voice say. When I look up, he's disappeared. I whirl around, and he's standing with one hand on the door, a bulge in his jacket pocket, and a smirk on his face. "And I guess I overestimated my Pokemon. But it doesn't matter, because soon, it won't be weak anymore, and I'll take Johto by storm." He grins. "See you. Or, most likely - " he points to my pigtails again - "not."

And he's gone.

The first thing I do is take out my pigtails and shake my hair out, combing it with my fingers.

The next thing I do is run after him, my new Pokemon following close behind.


	2. Mr Pokemon

I'm deep into the route outside my hometown (a sign tells me it is Route 29) before the idea of turning back crosses my mind.

At first I was pushed along by pure adrenaline. All I could think of was wanting to catch up with that boy, wanting to stop him.

But his footsteps have grown fainter and fainter, and now I can't hear them at all. And it's dark, and the trees that line this path seem to be pressing in on me, and suddenly I can't breathe.

My feet falter and then stop. I hear noises in the grass around me, noises that I wasn't aware of before. There's hooting and rustling and general noises that must belong to Pokemon. I shiver.

I have to go back. Back home. This was a crazy idea.

I turn around and start running in the opposite direction, the long grass brushing my ankles, wind whipping my newly freed hair. I'm frantic now, because the hoots and rustles seem to be following me, and I'm terrified of what could find me in the wild.

The _wild_. I'm in the _wild_! My God, what made me think I could do this?

I come to a fork in the tree-lined path and skid to a stop. Which way? I wasn't paying attention to anything but the boy's footsteps as I followed him. My heart pounds in my ears and I sink to my knees, squeezing my hands into fists and pressing them against my face. I focus on my breathing to calm myself.

"_Totodile_?" I hear a tiny, raspy voice inquire.

I scream and throw myself away from the noise, knowing that I have no protection from a Pokemon. I pick up a nearby rock and get ready to hurl it at my attacker, but I see a small, pale blue body that practically glows in the moonlight and hastily toss the stone to the side. It's my little Pokemon friend from before. Did it really follow me all the way out here?

"Totodile," I say aloud, still trembling. "Is that your name?"

The little Pokemon twirls on one stubby little leg and gives me a toothy grin. It really is cute, I admit to myself, and I reach out for it. It looks at my hand hesitantly for a moment, then presses its face into my palm.

A warm rush goes through me, making me shiver in the cool night air. Totodile's red-brown eyes are locked on me. Its reptilian pupils should unnerve me, but they soothe me instead. I may be completely lost and as far from home as I've ever been, but at least there's someone here with me.

I'm not sure how long we sit like that, with my hand on its head and its eyes on me, but I do remember my heart rate slowing to normal and purple streaks of dawn appearing on the horizon.

I vaguely remember stretching and checking my watch. It was about five, I think, and I realized that I hadn't slept since last night.

That's the last thing I remember before I wake up in a bed that isn't mine.

* * *

I'm lying on starched white sheets in a small, plain room. I sit straight up, confused, and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror opposite the bed.

My brown hair straggles to just above my shoulders. It's sticking up in weird places from wind and the taking out of my pigtails and who-knows-what-else from last night. I'm struck by how different I look without my pigtails. My face looks longer, less childish. I look...older.

Of course, by no means am I pretty. My caramel-colored eyes might have been attractive, but they are too wide, my nose too narrow and long, and the bridge of my nose has a light dusting of freckles, all of which gives me that childish look. I turn away from the mirror and slide out of the bed, my bare feet touching the cold tile floor.

Why am I barefoot? I see my shoes and socks neatly laid out by the exit, and slip them on before leaving the room.

I'm in a small, warmly lit house with wooden floorboards. There are recent signs of life: a coffee mug sits by a computer that's open to an email screen, and a newspaper lays on a small table.

"Hello?" I call tentatively, wondering where Totodile is and how in the world I got here.

A middle-aged man with a pleasant face peeks his head around a nearby doorway. "Ah, you're awake," he says, and strolls into the room, followed closely by a humanoid, muscular Pokemon.

"Say hello, Machoke," he instructs his Pokemon, and Machoke politely extends a hand for me to shake. I take it, smiling.

"Let me introduce myself," he says, sitting in front of his computer and taking a sip from the coffee mug. "They call me Mr. Pokemon, because you could say that I am fascinated by the creatures that share this world with us. I believe that there is much they can teach us, and the mysteries that surround them are simply captivating. So," he continues, scrolling through his email, "I work to unravel these mysteries, working closely with Pokemon."

He kind of reminds me of Professor Elm, but more...emotionally connected? I smile. "That's...really interesting. I'm Hazel."

Mr. Pokemon nods, turning away from his computer to look at me. "Nice to meet you, Hazel. Now, would you like to explain to me what you were doing sleeping in the middle of Route 29 with an exceptionally rare Pokemon?" He gestures to a spot behind me, and I turn to see Totodile sleeping peacefully on a blanket - I hadn't noticed it when I walked in.

I take a deep breath. "Well - I'm from New Bark Town," I say. "And...I was on a walk last night around midnight - because I have insomnia - and I saw someone - "

"Mr. Pokemon?" I turn around, and standing in the doorway Mr. Pokemon entered the room from is a tall, wiry boy with tousled black hair who looks about my age. His skin is the color of chai tea with milk, and his eyes are a deep chocolate brown. His eyes skim over me for a moment, then return to the man he's addressing. "It's the egg, sir. It's moving."

Mr. Pokemon leaps up. "Thank you, Jayce. One moment, Hazel. This story sounds fascinating, but the egg cannot wait." He strides briskly out of the room, and the Machoke follows him, leaving me and Jayce alone.

I awkwardly run a hand through my hair. The only person my age I've ever talked to has been Ethan. Well, Ethan and that thief from last night.

Jayce breaks the silence. "Can I get you anything?" He sounds just as awkward as I feel. "Like, some tea or something?" His voice is smooth.

I shake my head. "I'm fine, thanks."

We sit in awkward silence again until Mr. Pokemon returns, a huge grin on his face. "Amazing. Simply amazing. Jayce, I do believe the egg is ready to hatch. You have done a marvelous job with it."

I glance up to see Jayce's face break into a smile. "Thank you, sir."

"Hazel, I should properly introduce you to Jayce. He is my...apprentice, for lack of a better word. He enjoys interacting directly with Pokemon - that Machoke that was in here earlier actually belongs to Jayce. He raised it from an egg." Mr. Pokemon smiles proudly, and Jayce shrugs, his pale brown face coloring slightly. "He wants to be a Breeder someday."

Jayce nods, then moves and sits down in a nearby armchair, keeping his eyes averted from me. It somewhat reassures me to know he feels as uncomfortable as I do.

"This egg he has been caring for is that of a very rare Pokemon, one that is, as of now, undocumented," Mr. Pokemon continues, moving back to his chair in front of his computer. "When it hatches, we will be able to present it to Professor Oak in the Kanto region."

"Professor Oak?" I say, surprised. I've heard Ethan mention him in reverent tones before. From what I can tell, he's a Pokemon genius - the Professor at the very top.

"Yes, a very good friend of mine," Mr. Pokemon says. He opens a new email and begins typing. "Now. I believe we were discussing the strange events of last night, were we not?"

"Um...yes," I say, twisting my hands together. "I was out for a walk in New Bark Town, late at night - "

"You have insomnia," Mr. Pokemon interrupts. "It was about midnight, and you saw someone...doing something. That was as far as you had gotten."

"Oh." I glance up to find Jayce listening intently. His head is cocked slightly to one side and his right eyebrow quirks up.

"I saw someone breaking into Professor Elm's lab," I say, returning my eyes to my lap. "They looked too small to be an aide, and they were dressed in all black. A hooded sweatshirt and jeans. They messed with the lock for a while, and when I was sure they were breaking in, I just...I felt like I had to do something. I hurried up the stairs to Professor Elm's balcony, because there's another entrance up there and I know that's where he keeps the key. I got the key from under the doormat and - "

"How did you know the key was there?" Mr. Pokemon interrupts, still not turning away from his email. I'm surprised he can listen that intently while still typing away.

"My friend, Ethan, works for Professor Elm," I say. "He has to get in sometimes while Professor Elm isn't in the lab." I feel like I'm being interrogated. I take a deep breath. "So I found the key, unlocked the balcony door, and hurried downstairs. The thief was already inside, opening a safe in the lab - "

"Could you describe the thief in more detail, please?"

"He was a teenager. About my age - sixteen, I guess. He was pale, with long red hair and dark clothing. I guess I already said the clothing part." _Relax, Hazel_.

"Hm. Carry on."

"He had a Pokeball in his hand, and when he saw me he stuffed it in his pocket and made for the door." I decide to leave out the part about him taunting me. "I figured it was one of Professor Elm's rare Pokemon. I beat him to the front door and cut him off. Then I went back to the safe and grabbed a Pokeball, because a Pokemon battle was the only way I could think of to stop him."

"How did you buy the time to get back to the safe?" Mr. Pokemon turns from his computer now and looks at me carefully.

"I...well..." I had hoped to avoid mentioning this part. "I sort of kicked him...in...the balls?"

Jayce audibly laughs, but it magically turns into a cough when Mr. Pokemon looks at him. "I see. Continue, please."

"I threw the Pokeball and Totodile here popped out, and, well, I'm not sure how, but I ended up winning. He still got away, though," I add, realizing how lame that makes me sound, "and so I chased him onto Route 29, but I lost him, and I think I passed out."

Mr. Pokemon nods and scrutinizes me for a moment. "Well," he says at last, "to be honest, the story's credibility is rather shaky, especially since there really were no witnesses."

"Credibility?" I stammer. "Why does it matter if you believe me?"

"Well, that Totodile you have, my dear, happens to be the only one left in existence that we know of. That makes it _extremely_ rare. And since you had it, and you were obviously not the rightful owner..."

"Oh," I say. "_Oh_. You thought - you thought _I_ was the thief?"

"Yes. Jayce was out for a walk with his Machoke. He was actually the one that found you on the Route." He pauses for a moment. "Could you tell me what Pokemon the redheaded young man was battling with?"

"A Chikorita," I say.

Mr. Pokemon's eyebrows shoot up. "And you say he got away?"

"Yes."

"Well, I think I should call Elm at once." He pulls a cell phone from his pocket and begins punching in numbers. "Jayce, please escort the young lady to Cherrygrove City. I will arrange for an aide of Elm's to pick her up there." I recognize Cherrygrove as the name of the next town over. My stomach turns. How far away from home am I?

Jayce nods and stands up, running a hand through his dark hair and messing it up more than it already is.

"Wait," I say, and Mr. Pokemon pauses mid-dial, raising an eyebrow. "What...what about Totodile?"

"Well, he'll be returned to Professor Elm, of course," he says. "That is its rightful owner, I believe. Actually," he says, turning to Jayce again, "would you mind taking Totodile to Cherrygrove with you? The aide can return it to Elm's laboratory."

"Oh," I say quietly, and maybe it's stupid, but as I look at Totodile, still sleeping on the blanket, I feel like losing it would be like losing a friend. I shake myself. _Don't be stupid. You've only known it for a night, and it's not even human._

"I'm ready, then, I guess," I say to Jayce.

He goes to the door, then stops. "Hang on. I shouldn't leave without Machoke." He leaves down the hallway, whistling for him.

That's right. We'll have to go through the wild to get to Cherrygrove. I don't even really know where I am right now.

Jayce re-enters the room with Machoke close behind him. Machoke picks up Totodile from where it's sleeping and cradles it like a baby.

I resist the completely irrational urge to cry as I follow Jayce out the door, Machoke and Totodile bringing up the rear.


	3. We Meet Again

Once we exit the house onto a green, foliage-laden route, Machoke takes the lead, presumably to fend off wild Pokemon. Jayce and I walk behind in silence. It would almost be better if he talked constantly. The awkwardness only grows when he doesn't say anything. I have to break the silence somehow.

But what am I supposed to say? I glance up at the taller boy. His eyes are trained on the ground. I wonder how he started working for Mr. Pokemon?

I open my mouth to ask, but he actually beats me to it.

"So...you really did stop that thief?" His eyes raise up to meet mine, and I quickly look away.

"No, not really," I say, kind of surprised at his sudden question. "I mean, he got away."

"You still tried, didn't you?" he says, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets. "There's no way I would've had the guts to do that."

_Guts?_ It hadn't felt like I had guts when I had done any of it. But now, looking back on it, I guess it seems...well...kind of brave.

Which isn't me at all.

"Guts? Me? No." I shake my head. "To be honest, this is the first time I've ever been outside of New Bark Town. I've never even had the slightest _desire_ to go somewhere else - "

" - until now," Jayce breaks in, and I look up at him, startled. He is looking at me with that same intensely curious look he had while Mr. Pokemon was interrogating me. His eyes seem to absorb the light from the afternoon sun, so that they're glowing from within.

I turn away and start combing my hair with my fingers. I feel like I need something to do with my hands. "Well, yeah," I say quietly. "Until now."

Why _haven't_ I ever wanted to leave? I've been stuck in the same tiny place I've lived my whole life with the same people I've known my whole life. Now that I think about it, it seems...boring. Monotonous.

And now? Just by going with my instincts, I've ended up meeting new people, visiting new places, and breaking my routine in general.

I'm not so sure if that's a good thing.

"Well, what about you?" The question tears itself from my mouth. "I bet you've been all over the region, huh?"

Jayce shrugs. "Nah. Not really. The farthest away I've ever been is Ruins of Alph."

"Where's that?"

"Outside of Violet City." He grins when he sees my look of confusion. "Violet City is the next town over - after Cherrygrove. You really haven't even visited there?"

I shake my head. "My family - well, my mom and I - we don't really travel. And I've never really wanted to, I guess." I focus on the rippling muscles in Machoke's back as we continue forward. I notice that we haven't run into any wild Pokemon - my guess is that Machoke is intimidating enough to keep them away. "What were the Ruins like?"

"What you would picture ruins to be like. Crumbled, mysterious buildings. Archaeologists all over the place. Mr. Pokemon and I were investigating some rare Pokemon that live out there - they're called Unowns. Weird-looking things. Apparently there's some ancient legend connected with them." He shoves his hands deeper in his pockets. "Mr. Pokemon thought they might have something to do with a legendary Pokemon."

I get a little shiver down my back, and I'm not quite sure why. I just get this feeling, with Jayce talking about another place I haven't been, that the region is so huge, and I'm so tiny.

"Wow" is all I can think to say.

We walk in silence for a while longer before the greenery begins to thin and I see a beaten path up ahead. We follow it, and it leads into a town maybe twice the size of New Bark.

I take a deep breath in. The air smells like flowers and a sea breeze. There are people milling around on the beaten path that serves as a road, talking and laughing with each other. Lots of them smile and wave at Jayce. He must come out here a lot.

Jayce takes the lead now, steering our small party to the largest structure in the pretty town, a white building with a red roof.

"The town Pokemon Center," Jayce says over his shoulder. "Most big towns in Johto have one." Clearly, New Bark isn't a big town. "I'm pretty sure the aide would come here to pick you up."

_Pick me up._ I don't like the phrase. It makes me feel like I'm a little kid.

As we approach it, the glass door of the Pokemon Center slides open, and a teenage boy emerges.

He's wearing dark clothes.

He has red hair.

And his eyes immediately find me.

"Jayce," I say quietly, too shocked to say it louder. The thief immediately snaps his head down and starts walking, fast, away from us. "_Jayce_!"

He turns around, eyes wide. I must have sounded urgent. "That's him! The thief from last night!" He's hurrying toward a different exit from the town, the one that must lead to Violet City. "I have to catch up to him."

Without waiting for a response, I snatch Totodile from Machoke's arms and break into a run, following the redheaded thief. I'm not sure why I grabbed Totodile - I guess it was the one that I started all of this with, and it feels right to be back on the thief's tail with Totodile with me.

"Excuse me," I mutter, pushing through the crowds. My eyes never leave the head of flaming red hair. He quickly checks behind him, sees me, and starts running. _I will not lose him again._

"Stop!" I yell at him. "Hey! Wait!" I guess I could yell the classic '_stop, thief_', but it sounds stupid, even in my head, and I don't know if anyone would believe me anyway.

"Hazel, wait!" I hear Jayce shout from somewhere behind me. I can't stop. I turn the corner out of Cherrygrove City and follow the thief out onto the next route.

I'm in a full-out sprint now, since this route seems deserted, and I am fully prepared to tackle this guy, or throw Totodile at him, or do _something_ to stop him. God, he's _fast_. Why does he have to be so fast?

"Lost the pigtails, huh?" he throws over his shoulder as he continues to run. He doesn't even sound out of breath. "I must say, that's a remarkably adult-like decision of you. Someone's growing up," he sing-songs. Then he laughs and returns to running.

Oh my _God_, he makes me so _mad_. I don't really have a comeback, and I'm struggling to think of something when I notice a sign to my left that says "DO NOT PASS". I slow down, but realize that the sign looks freshly painted and suspiciously handwritten, and if he's going through, then I'm going through.

I continue running. I'm definitely getting out of breath now, and Totodile is squirming around in my arms because I'm holding it so tight. "You can't get away with this!" I shout, frustrated, because I know I won't catch him. "It's not fair!"

To my complete and total surprise, he stops, turns around, and faces me. "Why not?" he says, his voice a deadly whisper.

"Wha - what?" I stutter to a stop as well, my feet digging into the ground.

"I said, why not?" His eyes are narrowed. "Why should Professor Elm have Pokemon, but not me? Why should the rich, stuck-up Gym Leaders get to enjoy their power, but I can't battle?" He smirks mirthlessly. "And the best question: Why should some nobody, unintelligent, three-year-old girl from _New Bark Town_ with _pigtails_ be born with the chance to choose what she wants, and I have to follow the path set for me?"

Without thinking, I drop Totodile and punch him as hard as I can in the face.

He splutters, his hands flying to his face. "Did you just - "

I punch him in the stomach, and am winding up to hit him one last time when a force slams into my stomach and pulls me back.

Someone has me around the waist. I struggle to get free. "Let go!" I twist around, ready to hit my attacker, but it's Jayce, and I stop struggling. "What the _hell_, Jayce? Did you hear what he said? He deserves to get hit!"

"Hazel, calm down." Jayce's grip doesn't loosen. "Just calm down, okay?"

The thief has recovered and is running away again, through the route and into a clump of trees, until they swallow him up.

And as my pulse begins to calm, all I can think about is his last sentence.

_The path set for me._

What?


	4. More Villains In Black

**If you're reading this, THANK YOU SO MUCH(: I am so excited at the positive reviews I am getting, and this is driving me to make updates VERY fast. Well, enough of me talking - here's Chapter Four, and I hope you enjoy!**

Jayce's hold on my waist doesn't loosen until I stop demanding why he held me back. When he finally lets go, I ask him again, but much more calmly.

"I held you back because there's no point in you getting angry. It's what he wants," he says patiently, standing over me as I gather Totodile into my arms again. "And also, because we need to get back to Cherrygrove. The aide is probably so confused."

What aide? Oh. The aide that was coming to pick me and Totodile up. To go back to New Bark. Where I've spent my whole life...

Suddenly, it's like a shock runs through my body. I stare straight ahead at the cluster of trees the thief disappeared into. "Jayce," I say slowly, as something like an epiphany hits me, "I don't want to go home."

I turn toward him. He's looking at me like I'm crazy. I don't blame him. I just sprinted away from him at top speed, tried to beat up some kid I've seen twice in my life, and now I'm saying...what am I saying?

"I don't want to go home," I repeat. "I think...I think I want to keep going."

"Keep _going_?" He gives me that inquisitive look that I'm getting used to. "What do you mean?"

"Like...see the region," I say quietly. I'm not even sure where I'm going with this. "Go to the Ruins of Alph, like you talked about. Meet the Gym Leaders. Find new Pokemon. I don't know..." I trail off.

"Hazel..." Jayce puts a hand on my shoulder, startling me. I turn around. "If this is about chasing that guy - "

"It's not," I say firmly. "It's about me. I mean - I'm sixteen! Sixteen, and I've seen more action in these past two days than the rest of my life combined!" I'm looking Jayce straight in the eyes now. "I can't go back to living in New Bark," I say, and I realize his hand is still on my shoulder. "I can't go back to the same day-to-day routine. I..." I take a deep breath. "I think I want more than that."

Jayce stares at me for a while, and again I'm struck by how his eyes seem to glow of their own accord. Then he slowly takes his hand off my shoulder and nods once. My heart is pounding, for no apparent reason. He looks like he's going to say something important.

"I understand."

For a second, I feel somehow disappointed that he didn't say more - but then I realize exactly how much he said. Behind the fact that he understands, there's a story.

And I surprise myself with how badly I want to know what that story is.

"_Hssssssss..._"

A horrible, threatening sound, like air leaking out of a tire, is coming from behind Jayce. He whirls around and a purple, snake-like Pokemon with bright, sinister yellow bands lies coiled, ready to strike.

"An Ekans?" Jayce says in disbelief. "All the way out here? That can't be ri - "

"What are you kids doing in here?" demands a voice. A young man, maybe in his twenties, steps out from the shadows behind the Ekans. He's wearing an all-black uniform with a red letter 'R' emblazoned on his chest. "Didn't you see the sign?"

I don't like the way he's looking at us. He looks just as likely to strike as the snake. I feel like I should say something, but I feel paralyzed by the Pokemon's stare. It's so..._big_. Its fangs are the size of daggers, and I know that the bands on its coils equal venom in those fangs.

Jayce speaks up. "I'm sorry, sir. We must have missed the sign you're talking about. We were just trying to get to Violet City - "

"Didn't see the sign? That's bull. You would've had to walk right past it." He cracks his knuckles, and suddenly I realize he's eyeing Totodile. "Hey, kid, what kind of a Pokemon is that? Never seen that around here before."

Somehow, I feel like it would be bad to tell him the truth. "Uh, I'm not sure. I just found it on the path. It - it looks hurt." Totodile immediately clutches at its leg and starts to make whimpering noises. Good thing it's smart.

"I work for a Pokemon Center," Jayce lies smoothly. "We just need to get it to Violet City."

The man opens his mouth to reply, but before he can get words out, a sleek, black motorcycle appears out of the clump of trees up ahead, kicking up dust as it comes.

When it gets closer, I see that there's a blonde young woman riding the motorcycle, dressed in the same uniform as the man. She has a small steel cage under her arm, which she dumps unceremoniously to the ground before stepping off of the cycle.

I hear Jayce's sharp intake of breath and look up. He's staring at the inside of the cage, his fists clenched. I take a closer look and find a small, furry, fiery red fox-like Pokemon with six tails curled up in a ball. Blood seeps through its fur in places, and I grip Jayce's shoulder unthinkingly.

"What are these kids doing here?" the woman asks, folding her arms and looking us up and down. "Little young to be lawbreakers, aren't you?"

"You're the lawbreaker!" Jayce snarls. "What are you doing to that Vulpix?"

The woman just smirks. "I had to catch it, didn't I?"

"You don't need to open wounds to beat it in a battle!" Jayce says, his voice rising.

She shrugs. "I don't actually recall asking your opinion."

"All right, all right, all right," says the man in black, stepping forward. "This isn't the point. The point is that you kids are trespassing."

"We told you, we need to get to Violet City," Jayce says. He still sounds angry. The sight of the Vulpix really shook him up.

"All right, we'll let you go to Violet City," says the woman, narrowing her eyes.

"We will?" says the man, confused. "But we got orders from up top - "

" - _if_ you give us _that_," she says, ignoring the man, and pointing to Totodile.

An image flashes into my head of Totodile lying broken in a cage, like the Vulpix, and I step forward. "Not happening," I say.

"I'd like to see you stop us," the woman says, and beckons to the Ekans. It lurches forward, staring me down, but I refuse to flinch.

"Okay then," I say. "I will."

"Hazel." Jayce grabs my shoulders and turns me to face him. His intense brown eyes are locked on mine. "I left Machoke in Cherrygrove. How do you plan to beat them?"

"Totodile," I say confidently. "Trust me. We can do this."

He stares at me for a while. "I believe you," he says finally. "But I have to help."

"But you don't have any Pokemon with you!"

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Pokeball. "I always carry a few of my favorite Pokemon around with me. I raised most of them from eggs." He tosses the Pokeball to the ground, and a fluffy, red-and-black striped dog-like Pokemon appears in a burst of white light.

"You don't have to do this..." I say.

He just shrugs.

"Teaming up, are we?" smirks the blonde woman. "Well then, I think it's only fair that it's a double battle on both sides." She detaches a Pokeball from a belt she's wearing and throws it. A blue, bat-like Pokemon appears and exclaims, in a ridiculously irritating high-pitched squeal, "_Zubat_!"

"Growlithe, get ready!" Jayce orders. His Pokemon steps up to face the Zubat, and I let go of Totodile and watch it face the Ekans.

"Totodile, start off with Scratch!" I say, feeling the same rush of adrenaline I had when I battled the thief. Totodile rakes Ekans with its claws, but Ekans barely seems fazed and counters with a vicious bite. Totodile cries out and twists out of the grip of Ekans' jaws.

"Growlithe, use Ember," Jayce says. He seems much calmer than I am - much more confident. I wish I could control my emotions that well.

Growlithe spits out a small spark of fire that scorches Zubat, who leaps backwards in the air with another annoying screech.

"Leech Life," the woman commands, and Zubat immediately fires needles out of its mouth that embed themselves in Growlithe. Growlithe squirms uncomfortably as the needles sap the little dog's energy and give it to Zubat.

I'm pretty sure Totodile doesn't know very many moves, and I think Scratch is probably its most powerful move. "Keep using Scratch, Totodile," I say, and I feel a surge of hope as Totodile swipes at the Ekans again and it stumbles over its own coils.

The snakelike Pokemon hisses and tries to bite Totodile again, but this time my little Pokemon is ready and scrapes Ekans' head with its claws.

"Yes!" I say, as Ekans splutters and begins to show signs of weakening.

"Growlithe, finish off Ekans with Tackle," Jayce says. Growlithe charges Ekans and knocks it backwards. The snake lets out one last, weak hiss and goes unconscious.

The woman grimaces. "Jerome, your Pokemon _sucks_," she complains. "Zubat, use Poison Sting!"

Zubat shoots another needle from its mouth, and this time, it is Totodile that gets hit. My Pokemon immediately starts to glow a sickly purple.

"What happened?" I cry.

"Zubat poisoned it," Jayce says grimly. "We have to finish up this battle and get it to a Pokemon Center immediately. Growlithe, use Ember again!"

Another hiccup of fire hits Zubat, and the Pokemon's wings falter. Seeing an opening, I shout, "Totodile, use Scratch one more time!" Totodile stumbles forward determinedly, leaps up, and swipes the Zubat, sending it toppling from the air and into a heap at the woman's feet.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" the woman yells. "This isn't happening. We just lost to two _kids_!"

Jerome, the man, looks nervous. "Maybe we should get outta here, Bianca. Their Pokemon are tougher than we thought."

The woman looks like she wants to slap him. Her face is red. "This - this is ridiculous," she splutters. "I can't believe this is happening." She stomps over to the motorcycle and motions angrily for Jerome to get on. Then she whips her head around to face Jayce and I.

"You better hope this is the last time you tangle with Team Rocket. That's all I have to say," she growls, then speeds away on her motorcycle towards Violet City.

I stand, watching her go, but Jayce kneels down and picks up the cage containing the Vulpix. "I was hoping she'd leave it," he says softly, and tucks the cage under his arm. "We have to get to Violet City's Pokemon Center. For Totodile and this little guy," he says.

"Right," I say, snapping out of my daze. "Right, we should get going." I bend over and cradle Totodile in my arms again. Jayce returns Growlithe to its Pokeball.

"Ready?" he asks.

I nod, and we walk together toward the clump of trees up ahead.


	5. An Official Start

**Hey there! This is the longest chapter I have posted so far, and it took me the longest to update! I just thought I would address some character stuff at the beginning of this one. Jayce is an original character - I've gotten that question a couple times in private messages. Hazel is very loosely based on Lyra/Kotone, but I really changed her personality for my purposes. **

**Please continue to read and review!**

As we begin to walk in the direction of Violet City, I notice that Jayce has a strange expression on his face. He's been very mild all day, but now he seems...angry? Disgusted? Sad? I can't quite place the emotion he's showing, but I think it's a combination of those three.

I bump his shoulder with mine. "Are you okay?"

He looks down at me and immediately rearranges his features to a neutral expression. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." We walk in silence a bit longer, and I rub Totodile's head. The little Pokemon looks miserable, and it occasionally shudders as the poison saps its strength.

"I guess I just can't get over this," he says, gently tapping the Vulpix's cage with his free hand. "Why would anyone want to do this to an innocent creature?"

There's really nothing to say to that. We walk in silence for a bit longer, and it's like I can feel his frustration growing, emotions peaking.

"I've heard of Team Rocket before," he finally says, gripping the Vulpix's cage tighter. "But I had no idea who they were or what they did. I still don't, to be honest. Apparently, they like maiming Pokemon in their free time."

"Well..." I say, thinking about what the guy - Jerome - said. "Didn't they say they had orders to close the road? From someone 'up top'?"

"Something like that."

"So they must have wanted to either stop someone from going to Violet City, stop someone from coming from Violet City, or they needed that specific area for something." I shift Totodile closer to my body and start walking faster. The poor thing is shaking violently now.

"Why would they need a route in the middle of nowhere?"

"I don't know. They're probably just a bunch of punks. Like a cult or something," I say, trying to lighten the mood, because Jayce still looks angry. "Maybe it's a requirement to have terrible Pokemon."

The corners of his mouth twitch up. "That would explain a lot," he says. "They're probably dressed in black because they're all clinically depressed."

"They're depressed because their Pokemon suck," I say, warming up. "It's just a vicious cycle. And the 'R' on their uniforms actually stands for 'Really Stupid'."

Jayce starts laughing. "That's not even funny _or_ clever."

"Then why are you laughing?"

We go back-and-forth like this for a while, and I'm pleased I managed to make him smile. The sun has slipped down in the sky since we left Cherrygrove, and I realize I haven't been home for almost two days.

It isn't long before the grass underneath our feet gives way to gray stone, and we step into Violet City.

"We better find a Pokemon Center," Jayce says, and I nod. I'm not sure if Totodile is sleeping or if it has passed out from the poison, but it's been very still. I guess that's better than its continued suffering.

Something occurs to me. "Jayce, do you have a phone on you?"

He shakes his head, then realizes why I'm asking. "Oh my God! Professor Elm and Mr. Pokemon are going to be so confused!" He abruptly stops walking and whirls to face me. "Hazel, they're definitely going to think that you stole Totodile now. If they get there and Machoke's the only thing they find, they'll think you ran off with Totodile and I went after you."

I feel my eyes go wide. "But - but I didn't," I say lamely. "Professor Elm - he knows me - he knows I wouldn't - "

"Either way, we should call from the Pokemon Center phone." He starts walking faster, more urgently.

Violet City has a sort of regal air to it, and that's only intensified by the purple dusk that's settling on the place. All of the buildings we see are made of sturdy, dark wood, and the streetlights that snap on as it gets darker are dim and retro-looking. The whole city seems very maze-like to me. I'm lost within seconds, but I know Jayce must have been here before if he's been to the Ruins on the other side.

We pass a huge, dusty-blue accented building with a sign out front that reads "VIOLET CITY GYM: GYM LEADER: FALKNER, THE FLYING-TYPE MASTER".

So the gym leader here trains the Flying type? I don't even know what that means, to be honest. I have never seen a Flying-type Pokemon before. I can only assume it can fly - that seems rather obvious. I could probably fill this whole city with things I don't know about Pokemon. I make a mental note to ask Jayce about it later.

Finally, the red roof of a Pokemon Center appears, but I notice it's a more subdued red than the one in Cherrygrove, presumably to blend in with the atmosphere of the city.

We hurry through the sliding glass doors and I'm standing in a Pokemon Center for the first time in my life.

It's incredibly big and spacious, with a red front desk in the center of the room. A lady dressed in white with rose-colored hair and a pleasant smile is managing it. People and Pokemon alike relax at glass coffee tables that dot the area, talking and laughing. Escalators on either side of the red desk connect to a top floor that I can't quite see, and another escalator seems to lead to a lower floor.

I'm at a loss as to what to do - the sheer _size_ of the place has me stunned - but Jayce heads right up to the front desk, the Vulpix still in its cage under his arm. I shake myself and follow him.

The lady greets us with a sunny smile. "Hello, welcome to the Pokemon Center. What can I do for you today?" Her eyes fall on the Vulpix in the cage and her smile fades. "Oh my goodness," she says softly.

"Can you help it?" Jayce asks, gently placing the cage on the counter.

She nods slightly, her eyes hardening. "How did this happen?" she asks, her fingers fumbling with the latch on the cage.

Jayce and I look at each other. The story might take a while to explain. "We...ran into some people," I say, placing Totodile on the counter as well. "They had the Vulpix with them and...it looked like this."

Jayce pulls four Pokeballs out of his pocket and places them on the counter as well. "They ran away after we beat them in a battle, and they left the Vulpix behind. We knew we had better get it to a Pokemon Center right away."

The woman behind the counter shakes her head, lips pursed. "You don't know who they were?" She is gingerly sliding the Vulpix out of the cage, careful of its wounds.

"They...called themselves Team Rocket," I say.

"Hm." She straightens up and looks at us. "I've heard of them," she mutters. "Bad news." She examines the furry Pokemon in front of her, gently prodding its wounds and listening to its uneven, shallow breathing.

"Well, this won't be quick or easy," she says finally. "I'll need help." She reaches for an intercom next to her.

"Ma'am?" Jayce interjects politely. "I have some experience with healing Pokemon...I could help if you need it..."

"And I'd love to help, too," I say, even though I don't have the slightest clue how to heal a beat-up Pokemon. The Vulpix just looks so vulnerable and small, and I want to do what I can to help. Jayce smiles at me.

The woman sizes us up, then her face breaks into a smile. "Any help you can offer would be great." Her eyes fall on Totodile, and she scoops it up and places it on a small, flat surface on the counter that seems to connect to a machine of some sort. It kind of looks like a hot plate. She arranges Jayce's Pokeballs on it as well, and flips a switch on the side of the apparatus.

Our Pokemon are immediately bathed in a healing light. "A HealPad," she explains. "Should only take a few moments." She gently settles the injured Vulpix into her arms. "They'll be fine until we get back. In the meantime..." She opens a gate at the side of the desk and gestures for us to follow her.

Jayce and I enter through the gate and head through a door at the back of the reception area. Jayce holds the door for the woman, whose hands are full with the Vulpix.

We enter a long, sterile-looking, stark white hallway. Several doors line it, and we follow the woman into the second one on the right.

"Thank you so much for helping me with this," she says sincerely, placing the Vulpix on a small examination table clearly built specially for Pokemon. "And what are your names?"

"I'm Hazel," I say, looking around the small room packed with medical equipment.

"Jayce," Jayce says.

"It's a pleasure," says the woman. "My name is Joy. Jayce, you said you have experience with injured Pokemon?"

"A bit," he says, shrugging.

"Well, we're going to start by cleaning these wounds. The scabs aren't completely formed yet, and infections can be nasty. There's some peroxide in that cabinet over there, could one of you get it for me?"

The next hour or so passes in a blur of gauze, bandages, and x-rays. We find that the little Pokemon's front left leg has a fracture, at which Jayce's face darkens, and I know he's thinking about how hard it must have been hit.

At one point, Joy asks me to wrap the Vulpix's leg as she holds the bone in place. As I start to wrap the leg, I'm nervous. It's not like I've ever done this before.

At this point, the Vulpix has awoken from unconsciousness, and its eyes are wide and its teeth are clenched as Joy holds its leg and I start to wrap it.

Something changes when I wind that tape around its leg, though. I suddenly become a part of this process. I'm literally helping it to heal. With every pass around its fragile limb, I'm ensuring that the Vulpix gets better.

Its wide green eyes are locked on me, and I think that it somehow knows that we're here to help it, not hurt it.

A few minutes later, Joy thanks us for our help and allows us to leave with the Vulpix in a Pokeball. "It shouldn't use that leg for a while, though," she warns us. "Take the tape off in about eight weeks."

As we exit the room, I mutter, "Eight weeks? That's a really long time."

Jayce nods. "I know. We'll have to take care of it until then, for sure."

When we come back out behind the reception desk, Jayce's Pokeballs are still resting on the HealPad, but Totodile is nowhere to be seen.

I rush out from behind the counter. "Where did it go?" I ask, knowing that's a stupid question. How would Jayce know?

"How would I know?" he says, and I smile a little. "We'll have to look around. It probably woke up and went looking for you." He scans the room. "Oh, and I almost forgot. We need to call Elm so he doesn't send the Pokemon Police after us."

"Please tell me 'the Pokemon Police' is not an actual organization," I say, wrinkling my nose. "It sounds like a really bad band or something."

"Nah, I just made it up," Jayce says, grinning. "But maybe we could look into creating it. We could recruit people off the streets!"

"How about we don't?" I suggest, walking over to the phone. I enter 'New Bark Town' and then 'Professor Elm'. Since his lab is the only place with a phone, it automatically calls there instead of his house. Within a few rings, his face appears on the small screen.

"Hazel!" he exclaims, his green eyes widening. "I was hoping you'd call! Where are you? What happened?"

I take a deep breath and vomit up the whole story, from the thief last night to right now, omitting as little as I can. I want Professor Elm to know that I'm not a thief - I'd never take his Pokemon.

"I see," he says when I'm finished, a smile on his face. "To be honest, I never thought you were a thief. I knew that something had happened that we were unaware of to make you run away in Cherrygrove. Mr. Pokemon is here, too, and I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that you're innocent."

I nod, smiling with relief.

The professor's face turns serious. "Hazel, are you planning on coming back home?"

I squeeze my hands into fists. This is the question I have been dreading. "No," I say finally. "I think I want to...want to travel the region. See what it's like, you know?"

Elm smiles again. "I do know, Hazel. And to be honest, I was hoping you'd say that. There's something I'd like to give to you if traveling around the region is your goal. I'll have an aide deliver it to you in Violet City, so don't leave until you've received it."

I'm confused. What would Elm want to give me?

"Oh, and Hazel? Two things. One, your mother is quite worried - you may want to give her a call. And two - don't worry about returning Totodile. Obviously, if you're going to embark on this journey, you'll need a Pokemon." He adjusts his glasses. "Well, it has been a pleasure hearing your story, and I do hope to run into you again soon." He smiles, and his image disappears.

"Better call your mom," Jayce says, but before I can punch in the coordinates, someone taps me on the shoulder.

I turn around, and a young man in his early twenties is holding Totodile. He has shaggy, dark blue hair that covers one eye, but the eye I can see is a brilliant, crystalline blue. He is tall and thin, and he seems to lean on the balls of his feet as if something is pulling him up into the air.

"Did I hear you say you owned a Totodile?" he asks. His voice is low.

"Oh - yes," I say, holding out my arms for it. "I had wondered where it had gotten to."

He carefully transfers the little crocodile to me, and I give it a disapproving look. "Don't run away like that," I tell it sternly, but it just grins mischievously. I know that I'm not very convincing.

"Thanks so much for returning it," I say, nodding to the man.

"It was nothing," he says. He hesitates a moment, then continues. "My name is Falkner. I'm the Gym Leader here in Violet City. And you and your Totodile - well, I'd love it if you'd come and take me on. I get many challengers, but I don't think anyone has ever used such a rare Pokemon before. I'd love to see how it sizes up in battle."

My eyes widen. "Challenge you? But..." I look at Jayce, panicked. I don't know the first thing about battling! I've battled twice in my life!

Jayce grins. "She'd love to," he tells Falkner, who nods, unsmiling, and leaves through the sliding glass door.

"Why would you say that?" I burst out as soon as he's gone. "I have no idea how to fight a Gym Leader!"

"Relax," Jayce says, still grinning. "You've won both of your first Pokemon battles. I don't know how many people can say that. It's obvious you and Totodile have a bond that lots of people don't."

I'm not so sure.

After I call my mom and reassure her that I'm fine, we rent two rooms at the Pokemon Center for the night, and my insomnia is made worse by the fact that I have absolutely no idea what I'm getting myself into. I lay awake all night, thinking about tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and how all consistency is gone from my life. I wonder if Jayce will even accompany me for the rest of my journey, or if it will be just me and Totodile.

I curl up in a ball under the white, hospital-esque blankets and, for the first time since I decided to keep going, actually long for New Bark again.


	6. Zephyr What?

**Thanks to all for reading and reviewing, and I hope you like this chapter! Sorry in advance to those who don't like reading Pokemon battles, but it's a little bit central to the plot(: Next chapter will be less battling, more plot - cross my heart. Enjoy!**

When I wake up after my whole two hours of sleep, the first thing I see is a brown, leather backpack on my nightstand. A note is attached: "Thank you so much for helping me yesterday - Joy".

I sit up and pull the backpack towards me. It's full of little pockets, and I notice that she's stocked it with quite a few Pokeballs and some strange-looking stuff in spray bottles. Pokemon medicine?

In the main part of the backpack, there are also clothes - two pairs of jeans, sturdy-looking boots, a couple of T-shirts and a warm-looking blue jacket.

I smile. Suddenly, my fears from last night seem stupid. I will be fine on this journey. If there are people like Joy everywhere, practically complete strangers who will help me, I will definitely survive. I was worrying about the scary aspects of the outside world, but maybe...maybe Johto is generally a kind place.

I strip off the clothes I've lived in since I left New Bark - a red shirt and jeans - and take an amazingly refreshing shower. I use a hairbrush for the first time in two days. I change into a tie-dye T-shirt and a pair of jeans, throw the backpack over my shoulder, wake up a still-sleeping Totodile, grab the Vulpix's Pokeball off of my nightstand (Joy left it with me yesterday) and head out to the main lobby.

Jayce is already up, sitting at one of the coffee tables. I'm surprised to see his Pokemon sitting with him - besides for the Growlithe, he has a wispy, teal-colored Pokemon with curious yellow eyes that is floating around vaguely, a Pokemon that looks exactly like a yellow-belled plant, and a white-furred Pokemon that looks like a cross between a monkey and a pig. They all look very young - none of them are even close to being as intimidating as Machoke. They must have recently hatched.

I sit down across from him at the coffee table, and he slides a plate of doughnuts over to me.

"You got us food?" My stomach explodes into grumbling, and I realize the last time I ate was TWO DAYS AGO. I attack the pastries with a passion, and Totodile grabs one in its jaw and drags it under the table to eat.

"You should let that Vulpix out of its Pokeball," Jayce says, laughing at me. "And you have frosting on your face."

I purposefully smear more frosting on my face and toss Vulpix's Pokeball to the ground, releasing the little fox-like Pokemon in a burst of white light.

"Hazel, that's no way to present yourself to a Gym Leader," Jayce says in a mock serious voice. Then it disappears, replaced with a grin. "Remember your match today?"

I groan and bury my frosting-covered face in my hands.

* * *

"Jayce, I think I'm going blind."

"You're not going blind."

"I might be having a stroke."

"You're not having a stroke."

"I'm going to throw up."

"Well, don't do it on me."

I groan. We're standing inside the Violet City Gym, and you could say I'm having second thoughts.

Oh wait! I never even had _first_ thoughts, because _someone_ forced me into this.

I send this someone a death glare.

He grabs my arm. "Hazel, you're being ridiculous. Just try it! If you're going to travel around the region, you might as well challenge the Gym Leaders, right?"

I hesitate, realizing that he actually makes sense. "I'm just - I don't want to," I say, changing my words at the last minute.

He rolls his eyes. "Well, we look pretty weird just standing here."

"Right! So let's leave." Jayce laughs, but shifts to block the door.

The Gym is even bigger than it looks from the outside. It has a high, arching glass ceiling and it's full of brilliant, early afternoon light. A long, straight glass path leads directly to Falkner, with a few guys waiting on either side of it. No one seems to have noticed us yet. I point to them.

"Who are they?"

"Oh, right - they're junior trainers. They're training under the Gym Leader, so you'll have to beat them if you want to challenge Falkner." I open my mouth to say I _don't_ want to challenge Falkner, but Jayce beats me to it. "Which you do."

My hands start to shake, like they always do when I'm nervous. I clasp them together. "What if I told you...I'm scared?"

"I'd say, 'I know'." He smiles a little. "Just _go_."

I take a deep breath. "You'll watch, right?" I sound like a little kid and inwardly flinch. Ever since the thief's baby comments, I've been trying hard to be as un-naive as possible. Just how hard I've had to try might say something about me - something I don't like.

"Of course," Jayce says, responding to my question. "I don't think I can go in with you, though."

I nod and straighten my T-shirt. "Well, I guess I'm going." I absentmindedly glance up, looking at the glass ceiling again - and then I do a double take.

A rope ladder dangles about three feet above my head.

"Jayce?" I point up, and he follows my finger. His eyebrows shoot up. The ladder is only about two feet above his head, and he reaches up and tugs it by standing on his tiptoes. I realize the ladder attaches to a glass platform above us that's easy to miss.

A slow smile spreads across Jayce's face. "I get it," he says. He gestures to the junior trainers again. "I bet it's a way to get around them and go right to Falkner."

"That's legal?"

He shrugs. "Yeah. Quite a few gyms have little shortcuts that let you go straight to the Leader - or at least cut out quite a few junior trainers."

"What if the ladder's just for maintenance or something?"

He grins. "Then you'll end up in a supply closet. Just try it."

I look down at Totodile, who is being quieter than usual. Its gaze is fixed on the ladder. I crouch down to its level.

"What do you think?"

It tilts its head to one side, considering. Then it swivels its eyes to me, gives me a big grin, scurries around behind me, jumps onto my back, and claws its way up onto my shoulder.

"I'll take that as a 'yes, Hazel, you should climb the ladder'," I say, wincing from the little Pokemon's sharp claws. Then I look up at the ladder. It's too high for me to reach, even on my tiptoes. I look at Jayce.

"You need a boost?" He smiles slightly. "This is discrimination against short challengers. You should bring this up to Falkner when you face him."

I roll my eyes, but I smile. "I'm _not_ that short. You're just freakishly tall."

He laces his hands together and kneels. "Step on my hands. Don't fall."

I put a foot on his hand, hoping my new boots aren't smashing his fingers. He starts to lift me, and I quickly put a hand on his shoulder to keep from toppling onto his head.

For a second, as impossible as it sounds, I'm actually put off balance by how solid he feels. I know it doesn't make any sense, but I know I'm not going to fall. I leave my hand there until I'm higher than the first rung of the ladder.

"Reach up and see if you can pull yourself onto it," Jayce says, sounding slightly out of breath. He's gripped my boots for support, and my feet are about at his chest. I finally release his shoulder and slowly straighten up, feeling his hands shake supporting my weight.

I grab the rope ladder, and I know immediately that I don't have enough upper body strength to pull myself onto it. "Uh, Jayce?" I say. "This isn't going to work."

He lets out a kind of strangled laugh. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Can you lift me any higher?" I feel Totodile's feet on my shoulder.

"I'm going to go with a definite 'no'," he says. A pause. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to let go. Can you hang from the ladder for a little while?"

"I think so..." I say. Then I laugh. "This is kind of ridiculous, huh?"

"Yeah," he says, and I hear the smile in his voice. "All right, I'm letting go."

When he lets go, I'm holding onto the rope ladder for dear life, and my arms basically feel like they're being pulled from their socket. I picture my body dropping to the ground as my arms still hang on the rope. Totodile snaps its jaw worriedly, still perched on my shoulder.

"Okay, ready?" Jayce is behind me.

"Ready for what?" I practically gasp. My arms are on fire. I imagine lifting someone like Jayce lifted me, and realize that I've never actually had to do anything very physical in my life.

"This." I feel him pushing up on the bottoms of my feet, and I instinctively push back, propelling myself up to the rope ladder. Since part of my weight is supported by the ladder now, I guess it's easier for him to lift me. I look down and realize that he's literally underneath me, pushing up. He continues to push until he's at his full height, his arms fully extended, and my feet are at the bottom rung of the ladder.

I carefully step onto the ladder, which sways a little. I look down again.

"That was ridiculous," I repeat, smiling a little. "Was that even worth it?"

"It depends if you beat Falkner or not," Jayce says.

I take a deep breath and start to climb the ladder. This is harder than I anticipated, made worse by the fact that my arms feel like Jell-O. The ladder keeps swinging back and forth slightly with every step, and Totodile's claws are digging into my shoulder now.

I keep going, though, and the ladder comes up in a hole in a glass platform. I carefully pull myself up out of the hole with my trembling arms.

Totodile hops off of my shoulder and onto the platform. It shoves its head against the glass, staring down at Jayce, quite a stretch beneath us.

"Good luck," he mouths, and I nod, scoop up Totodile and start walking along the platform carefully.

I walk directly over each of the junior trainers, none of which saw me or Jayce come in. My eyes skip to Falkner - who's looking directly up at me. My stomach drops to my feet before I realize he's smiling slightly, like he's impressed I found the shortcut.

I reach the end of the glass platform and realize there's a spiraled glass slide that leads to Falkner. Really? A slide? Not exactly dignified...

I sigh, place Totodile on my shoulder, and start down the slide, trying to at least retain some control. Unfortunately, that's kind of impossible on a slippery glass slide.

I gasp as I increase speed dramatically, the air blowing my hair back. There are no railings on the slide, and for a few seconds at the beginning I'm terrified I'll fall off. I have absolutely no control over what I'm doing.

Then I hear Totodile let out a kind of whoop, and I realize that there is a kind of childlike pleasure in speeding down a slide. I actually laugh out loud when I think, _This is definitely the most hardcore slide I've ever been on_. Well, it _was_ basically built as a thrill ride for challengers, wasn't it?

I'm actually enjoying it wholeheartedly by the time we wind up at the bottom, just to Falkner's right. He looks like he's trying hard not to smile, and I realize that I probably look crazy - I quickly comb my hair back into place with my fingers, straighten my shirt, and wipe the giddy smile from my face.

"I'm glad you came," he says in that soft, low voice of his. "I'm anxious to see you battle. May I ask how you acquired that Totodile?" He is wearing a large blue overcoat, and he casually slips his hand into a big pocket and pulls out a Pokeball. Getting ready for the battle.

"I'm from New Bark Town. Professor Elm gave it to me." I figure I won't go into detail. I motion for Totodile to come down from my shoulder, but instead it looks directly at me and makes a weird gurgling noise at the back of its throat.

"Totodile, what are you doing? You're freaking me out - "

_Gssshhhh. _A stream of water slaps my face painfully.

"What the - ? Oh, I get it, you learned a new move. Yay. Please get ready," I say, wiping my face off on my shirt, a little annoyed. Totodile just grins at me and hops down. I can't stay mad at it for long.

"Are you ready?" Falkner says, looking a bit amused. "I mean, now that you're familiar with Water Gun..."

"Ready if you are," I say. I glance behind me. Falkner's junior trainers are now watching curiously, and I see Jayce all the way by the entrance, leaning in the doorway. His eyes meet mine and he smiles encouragingly.

Falkner tosses his Pokeball to the ground, and a small, brown-and-white, feathery bird appears in a flash.

"All right, Totodile," I say. "Start out with a Water Gun."

Totodile immediately unhinges its jaw and unleashes a small jet of water. Falkner's Pokemon is blasted backward, tumbling over itself.

"Pidgey, counter with a Tackle," Falkner orders.

The Pidgey launches itself into the air and slams into Totodile. My little Pokemon stumbles back a few steps and shakes its head in a confused manner.

"Try Scratch," I say, but before Totodile can whip out its claws, the Pidgey uses its own talons to claw up grit from the Gym floor. The grit goes flying into Totodile's eyes faster than my Pokemon can react, and it is off-balance again.

"Hurry, Totodile," I urge, and my voice seems to snap my Pokemon out of its daze. It quickly slashes at the Pidgey with its claws once - no, twice - before Falkner directs his little bird to tackle Totodile again.

Both Totodile and Pidgey look tired. This could be close. "Water Gun," I tell Totodile, and Pidgey tries to flap out of the way of the stream of water, but Totodile catches its wing nevertheless. It collapses to the ground but struggles to its feet again.

"Pidgey, use Tackle!" Falkner advises, arms crossed. He looks completely calm, even though I've almost beaten his Pokemon.

As Pidgey rams into Totodile again, Totodile slashes at Pidgey's wings with its sharp claws, and they both take a hit. Pidgey collapses instantly, but Totodile still stands, shaking visibly.

"Not bad," Falkner admits, recalling his unconscious bird. "However, I think you're as good as beaten now. You put up a valiant fight, though, I'll say that." I'm about to ask him what he means when, to my surprise and dismay, he pulls out another Pokeball. I hadn't considered that he might have more than one Pokemon.

I swear under my breath. I know that Totodile won't make it, especially when I see the Pokemon Falkner releases. It looks like a larger, more powerful version of a Pidgey. It has tufts of red-and-yellow feathers on its tail and the crest of its head and glossy brown-and-white feathers.

"Pidgeotto, finish it off with Gust," Falkner commands.

I'm helpless to do anything but watch as the Pokemon creates a small tornado of wind with its wings and hurls it at Totodile, who promptly crumples to the ground.

I instinctively reach for Totodile, whose eyelids flutter once and then go still. "Oh God. I'm sorry," I whisper as I lift the little crocodile in my arms. Maybe it's stupid, and I should probably get used to it if I'm going to keep battling, but I feel a hot spike of guilt in my stomach at seeing my Pokemon get knocked out.

"Hazel!" I hear Jayce call.

I turn and look up, tearing my eyes away from Totodile. He's still in the entranceway, but now he looks excited. "The Vulpix!" he says.

That's when I feel the lump in my jeans pocket and remember the Vulpix we rescued. I hadn't been planning on using it in battle - I'm not sure if the poor thing could do any damage at all with its leg in a cast.

I take the Pokeball out of my pocket and drop it to the floor. The Pokemon appears in a white glow, bandaged leg and all. I have to admit, it's looking better - its fur is much glossier, its eyes are brighter, and its wounds are practically gone - but I don't know how I feel about making it battle.

I look up at Jayce again, who shrugs. "Maybe not," I hear him say from across the gym.

Vulpix looks curiously at Falkner's Pidgeotto and makes a kind of mewling sound. Before I know what's going on, it has spit out a coal like the one Jayce's Growlithe used yesterday against Team Rocket, and the coal hits the Pidgeotto's wing. The bird squawks indignantly and flaps its wing to put out the small flame.

"You have another Pokemon?" Falkner says, clearly surprised.

"Uh..." I look back at Jayce, who shrugs again, indicating that it's my decision. "I..."

Vulpix hiccups out another ember. This one hits Pidgeotto in the face. It screeches and claws at the ground, looking at Falkner for direction.

"I'm not sure if I want to - " I start, but Vulpix coughs out another flame that strikes Pidgeotto in the chest and makes it stumble backward. With an angry shriek, Pidgeotto whips up another tornado and hurls it at Vulpix.

I swear, Vulpix is laughing as it rolls out of the way of the gust. Literally _rolls_ so that it doesn't put pressure on its hurt leg. My jaw drops.

"Pidgeotto, what's gotten into you?" shouts Falkner as his Pokemon tries to tackle Vulpix with no direction from him. Vulpix spits out an ember and nails Pidgeotto in the chest again, knocking it backward mid-tackle.

"I'm sorry!" I cry. "I've never battled with this one before, it's just attacking, I swear, I didn't tell it to do anything - "

"It's all right." Falkner waves me off as Pidgeotto keeps attempting to hit Vulpix with a Gust. "Well, it looks like we're finishing this battle, hm?"

"Yeah," I say, amazed at Vulpix's agility with a fractured limb. It throws itself out of the way of all of Pidgeotto's attacks, always in a clever way that allows it to land somewhere other than its injured leg. It's...genius, really.

"Vulpix?" I say, not sure how it will handle taking commands. It cheerily whips its head around to face me. It looks like it's _enjoying_ itself. I figure Ember is the best move it can use, since it can't exactly move freely to use Tackle or something. "Just make sure you stick with Ember, okay? Don't hurt yourself."

It makes that same mewling noise and turns to face an angry Pidgeotto. It happens so fast that I have to walk myself back through it in my mind - Pidgeotto throws itself at Vulpix and Vulpix sinks its teeth into Pidgeotto's side while firing an ember. The bird falls to the ground, scorched.

I realize my mouth is still hanging open.

"I...did not see that coming," I hear from behind me, and turn to see that Jayce has made his way to this end of the gym. He looks as shocked as I do.

Falkner doesn't look too surprised, though. Then again, he doesn't show emotion that often. "Well, congratulations, Hazel," he says. He reaches into his pocket again and pulls out a small, shiny object. Closer inspection proves it to be a flat metal chip formed in the shape of wings.

"Um...what is that?" I ask tentatively.

Jayce bursts out laughing, and Falkner even cracks a smile. Apparently, it is hilarious that I don't know what this is.

"It's the Zephyr Badge," Falkner says once Jayce starts to wind down. "When you beat Gym Leaders, you get badges. It's kind of confirmation that you beat me. Defeat all eight Gym Leaders in Johto, collect all eight badges, and you'll be on your way to new challenges."

"I bet that's the first time you've been beaten by someone who doesn't know what a badge is," Jayce says, and I shove him.

"Well - thank you, Falkner," I say, taking the badge. There's also a cash prize, and I have to put it on a Trainer Card or something like that. I'm not really listening.

"It was my pleasure, Hazel," Falkner says. "You have a lot of potential."

I return Vulpix to its Pokeball, put the ball in my pocket, and slowly walk out of the gym. I keep my head down, but I can feel the stares of the junior trainers all the way to the exit.

As soon as I'm past the sliding glass doors, I collapse onto the gray pavement.

**I hope you're falling in love with these characters, because I am falling in love with these characters, which means I'll be updating whether you want me to or not ^_^ Notice how the updates just keep getting longer and longer...?**

**Please review! Thank yoooouuu!**


	7. Smoothies and a Wild Goose Chase

**Sorry about this update taking a smidge longer than the others - holidays and all that. Well, enjoy!**

"Are you okay?" Jayce asks over mango smoothies in a cafe.

We just went to the Pokemon Center and I got a Trainer Card, onto which all my trainer-type information is apparently logged. I don't really get it, except that it works as a credit card, too. Jayce dragged me here to 'celebrate', but I'm technically buying for both of us with my winning money.

I nod and take a sip from my straw. "Yeah, I guess. Why?"

"You're just really quiet. And you did kind of collapse right after you beat Falkner."

"Oh." I stare down at the table, at my new Trainer Card. "Yeah. I was just...overwhelmed, I guess."

His eyebrow quirks up into that quizzical look that's becoming familiar. "Overwhelmed?"

"I don't know." I swirl my straw around in the orange liquid. There's a long pause.

"It's just hard to think about," I say, resting my cheek on one hand while I continue to swirl my straw. The motion is oddly therapeutic. "The whole journeying-across-the-region thing, yeah, but also...now I'm going after Gym Leaders? Now I'm a full-fledged Trainer? I wasn't even planning on doing that. It's like...culture shock or something. I don't know."

Jayce leans forward slightly. "You feel bad about Totodile, don't you?"

I look up at him, a bit startled. "Well...yeah." We left Totodile and Vulpix at the Pokemon Center while we took this smoothie break.

He smiles a little. "Let me tell you something...when I started off with Mr. Pokemon, I was, like, ten. And Machoke was the first Pokemon I ever raised from an egg - he actually started off as a Machop - "

"He started off as a different Pokemon?" I interrupt, confused. "How is that even possible?"

"Pokemon evolve into different forms as they gain levels," Jayce says, sipping his smoothie. "Sorry. I forget that you don't know this stuff."

I shrug. I'm actually kind of flattered that he forgets. It implies that he's able to forget how naive I really am when he talks to me.

"So anyway, Mr. Pokemon told me that I should battle Machop to make it grow. I was so excited. You have no idea. I was a ten-year-old kid, and battling sounded like the coolest thing in the world. I ran into a Pidgey on the route outside Mr. Pokemon's house and directed Machop in battle." He pauses, his amber eyes unfocused. Then he smiles and looks at me. "It fainted after a couple hits. I burst into tears and ran inside."

I laugh. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. I felt so bad."

"Did you just leave Machop out there?" I start laughing again as I start envisioning the scene: A smaller version of Jayce hysterically crying as he runs back into Mr. Pokemon's house, leaving Machop's unconscious body to be pecked at by a curious Pidgey.

"Yep," he says, grinning. "Great idea, right? I was kind of hysterical, though. And I was ten." He waits until I stop laughing and continues. "My point is that I get the guilt aspect of Pokemon battling - that's actually why I decided I want to be a breeder. I prefer caring for Pokemon to fighting with them." He pauses to sip his smoothie again. "But...while working for Mr. Pokemon...I've started to appreciate battles. How the trainer and the Pokemon work together...there's something beautiful about that."

I let that sink in, and I think about how I've felt each time I've battled. I've felt - like there was a connection between me and Totodile. Like we were one unit, working together, and...I guess I can understand why Jayce thinks that's beautiful.

I still feel guilty, but...less so. I take a big drink from my smoothie, feeling lighter.

"Better?" Jayce quirks up his eyebrow and tosses his empty smoothie cup into a nearby trash can.

I nod, smiling, but a thought occurs to me and I feel the smile slide off my face. "Jayce?" I say, and I feel my hands start to tremble slightly. "Are you - I mean - do you...do you want to -" _Why is this so hard to say?_ I know the answer even as I think the question. I like Jayce. He's a good friend, one of a grand total of two that I've ever had. I don't want to lose him. "Are you going to...keep going? With me?" I inwardly cringe at how stupid that sounded.

"Do you want me to?" he asks, looking serious.

"Of course," I say without hesitation, then feel my face get hot. I don't want to sound desperate, like a girl with no friends. I clench my shaking hands into fists.

His face lights up in a smile. "Well then. Is that even a question?"

I laugh more than I should, because I'm relieved.

* * *

After going back to the Pokemon Center to retrieve Vulpix and Totodile, we wander around the city, since we can't leave before the Professor's aide gets here with my mystery gift.

We're peering into the windows of some local shop that sells weird knickknacks when I look down and realize Totodile isn't there.

"Shit." The guilt is back immediately, like a knife in my stomach. I wonder if Totodile is angry with me for letting it faint in battle - it had been rather unfocused since we picked it up from the Pokemon Center. I should have seen this coming. My stomach churns as I picture the little crocodile running away to live in the wild.

"What is it?" Jayce looks away from the shop window.

"It's Totodile." I whirl around, hoping it hasn't gone far, but I don't see it, and I'm starting to panic. This isn't like it wandering off in the Pokemon Center, where someone was bound to find it and it couldn't go far. This is bad.

"When did you last see it?" Jayce, of course, is much more cool-headed about this. He scans the streets with me.

"I don't know...when we were walking past that alley with the guitar player? No - it was when we passed the smoothie place again. Oh God, I don't know..." I try and take deep breaths and tell myself that this isn't a big deal. We'll find it.

"Hazel, it'll be okay." Jayce says, attempting to soothe me, but I barely hear him. I start walking back in the direction we came from.

"Totodile?" I call. It's starting to get darker outside, and there are less and less people on the streets.

I hear Jayce stopping someone behind me. "Excuse me. Have you seen a little Pokemon, about this big?"

I follow his example and ask a young man walking by. "Sorry to bother you, but have you seen a blue Pokemon? It looks like a little crocodile...it's called a Totodile..." I trail off at the blank look on the man's face. "Well...thank you anyway."

I don't stop anyone after that, just keep walking back the direction we came from, passing shops we've already been inside. Was Totodile with us then? I strain to remember, then scold myself for not knowing. Was I even paying attention? Maybe that's why it ran away. I'm walking through the center of town now. Soon I'll be back at the Pokemon Center. Maybe Totodile just went back there. Maybe it'll be waiting for me.

"Hazel, slow down." Jayce's hand is on my shoulder, and he gently pulls me to the side of the street. I let him, holding back tears. How could I be so stupid?

"This isn't your fault." He tries to meet my eyes, but I won't let him, looking down at the pavement instead. How could this not be my fault? "It's curious. It just wanders off sometimes. We'll find it." I accidentally glance up, and his eyes hold mine. "I promise."

"Hazel!" I turn around and a boy with a shock of dark hair and a gold-and-black baseball cap screeches to a halt in front of me. His gray eyes are bright with excitement. "I can't believe you're actually here!"

"Ethan!" I hug him without hesitation. It's such a relief to see his face. It reminds me of home.

We pull away. "The Professor was going to send one of his aides to give you this - " he holds out a sloppily gift-wrapped package - "but I had just got back from Kanto and wouldn't take no for an answer. I seriously can't believe that you actually started a journey. It's great!"

I shrug. "If I'm going to be honest, I didn't mean to start it at all..."

His eyes sparkle with that childish light I know so well. "You have to tell me all about it."

"Sure! There's a cafe down the street, we can - " I stop, remembering why we don't have time to talk, and the relief that a familiar face offered me is gone.

"We're looking for her Totodile," says Jayce, coming up on my side. "It ran off."

"Oh my gosh! That's horrible!" Ethan's Marill, a round, blue water Pokemon with tiny ears and a ball-shaped tail, hops up onto his shoulder. I almost smile at the sight of it. Marill is as high-energy as its owner. It's been Ethan's companion since he was a little kid. "I'll help you look. I know the city pretty well. Marill and I'll find it! Don't worry!"

With that, he speeds off again, going who-knows-where.

"Who was that?" Jayce asks, his face blank, and I realize that I didn't even introduce them to each other.

"My friend Ethan," I say. "From New Bark. He's the one Professor Elm sent to give me my package, I guess. Sorry for not introducing you, I just didn't think of it."

"I don't blame you," he says. "Doesn't exactly leave time for formalities, does he?"

I smile a little, but something about Jayce's tone makes me uncertain. Does he have a problem with Ethan? "No, not really."

"Well. We should keep going, right?" Jayce shoves his hands in his sweatshirt pocket.

"Right."

We walk down the street in silence, much more calmly than we were walking before. Dusk is settling on Violet City again, and only a few stragglers remain on the streets. My panic grows with the darkening sky, but I try to control myself this time. I go through what Jayce told me over and over again. _This isn't your fault._ _It's curious. It just wanders off sometimes. We'll find it. I promise._

We stop, back in front of the Pokemon Center. "I think we've been here already," Jayce says.

I nod. _It's curious. It just wanders off sometimes._

We make a U-turn and head back to the main square. It's now completely deserted. _We'll find it. I promise._ "Where haven't we looked?" I ask. We stop for a moment, and I slip my backpack off and take out my jacket. I'm not that cold - I just have to do something or I'll go crazy. _This isn't your fault..._

"Well..." Jayce points off in the distance, and I follow his hand. A tower that I somehow failed to notice rises above all the other buildings. It seems to sway in the blue light of dusk.

"How do we get there?" I ask, slipping the jacket over my head. "I thought we'd been everywhere." _It's curious._

"I'm not sure," Jayce admits. "Let's just head in that direction and see what happens."

I nod, fighting the feelings of guilt and panic. _It just wanders off sometimes. It's not your fault._

We start walking down a street we've already searched, heading in the direction of the tower. This is hopeless. We don't even know for sure if Totodile is in the tower. It's just a randomly selected place.

_ We'll find it. I promise._ How could Jayce even promise that? _It's not your fault._ Yes it is.

"I wonder where Ethan is," I say, again, mostly because I need to say something, need to think about something, that will take my mind off this.

Jayce shrugs. "How would I know?"

"Maybe he went to the tower, too." I shove my hands into my pockets.

Jayce doesn't respond. I glance at him, and his face is blank. I've never seen him this...cut off. Does he have a problem with Ethan? Do they know each other? My mind jumps on this problem instead of the one at hand.

We stop. A row of houses blocks our path to the tower. "Is it even in town?" I ask.

Jayce nods. "I think it is. Let's just cut through."

We walk through the gaps between the houses and there it is. Right on the edge of town. It looks...ancient. And powerful. Purple roofs jut out along its height, separating each level from the next. An old, tarnished bell sits on the very top roof.

It's an awe-inspiring sight, but I'm more interested in what we have to cross to get into the tower.

A bridge over a pond.

A pond in which a little blue Pokemon is splashing around without a care in the world.

"Totodile!" I yell, and it immediately whips its head around to face us. It gives a toothy grin and swims to shore. It moves surprisingly gracefully in the water, given its stubby appendages.

I run over to the water, and absolute relief washes over me. It doesn't seem upset with me at all. "Why did you run off like that?" I demand, scooping it up. I immediately regret this decision as cold pond water starts seeping through the arms of my jacket.

In response, it only tilts its head to the side, a slight smile playing around its mouth.

"This isn't funny," I say, determined to stay angry with it. "I don't like it when you run away. I get scared. _Never_ do it again. Okay?"

Totodile's eyes widen. I realize this is probably the harshest I've been with it. The little crocodile burrows its snout into my sweatshirt.

"I'll take that as a yes," I sigh, putting a hand on its head.

"So...what now?" Jayce asks. He's smiling at our reunion, hands in his pockets.

"I guess we go back to the Pokemon Cen - oh! Wait! We need to find Ethan, don't we?" I say. "He still has my package."  
"Right." Jayce's smile fades. "Because he showed remarkable foresight when he ran off and gave us nothing to help us communicate with him."

"He was just trying to help," I say, startled. Jayce is usually so easygoing. There's definitely something going on. "Have you known Ethan before today?"

He looks at me for a while, blankly, and at first I'm afraid that I jumped to conclusions. Maybe he doesn't have a problem with Ethan at all. Then he shrugs. "Yeah. It's not a big deal."

"Yes, it is." I wait, looking up at him. He's not meeting my eyes.

"Let's go into the tower, then," he says after a while, and he starts walking across the bridge. There's nothing I can do except follow him, but I want answers. Maybe I'll ask Ethan about it when we find him.

The inside of the tower is plain and old, with creaky wooden floorboards and a large pole running through the middle of the floor. It almost seems to be moving side to side slightly, which freaks me out a little bit.

"Are we supposed to be in here?" I whisper, holding Totodile closer. "This place looks condemned."

Jayce just points across the room to a bald man in deep blue robes who is standing alert next to a staircase. He is staring directly at us.

"Excuse me?" Jayce says, stepping forward. "Did you happen to see a guy run through here? Dark hair? Yellow and black baseball cap?"

"Yes," the man says. A suspicious look crosses his face. "Why?"

"He's our friend," I speak up. "We're looking for him."

"I was told not to let anyone else upstairs tonight. We're closed for the day," the man says sharply.

"Closed?" I repeat.

"Yes," the man says. "Sprout Tower is a public training facility, but we are currently closing up for the night."

Public training facility? So trainers come here to battle? I wish we had come here during the daytime. "Are you sure we can't just go up and get him? Our friend, I mean? He thinks he's looking for this Pokemon - " I hold up Totodile - "and we want to let him know that we've found it."

"I'm afraid you'll just have to wait," the man says shortly. It's like he's trying desperately to maintain his composure. He keeps glancing at the staircase nervously and twisting his hands together.

"Are you all right, sir?" Jayce asks politely from beside me. He must have noticed the man's agitated air as well.

The man snaps his head towards us and narrows his eyes. "I am fine. Now go outside to wait for your friend."

Jayce and I exchange looks. Something's going on here.

"All right," I say finally. "But if anything's wrong...I mean...we might be able to help you, you know."

The man stares at us for a while. "Do you happen to have another friend who came to the tower today?" he asks eventually.

I look at Jayce in surprise. "No," he says. "Why do you ask?"

"There are two trainers who have not left yet. One is the boy in the yellow-and-black hat, who burst in just a moment or two ago. The other is a boy who has been here all day, and I have not seen any sign of the other Sages or even the Elder since this morning, when we opened the tower. Being the only Sage on the first floor, this is hardly unusual, but now, at closing time, they should be leaving, and they are not." His hands are twisting together again.

I process what he's saying in my head. Two guys - Ethan and someone else - haven't left the tower yet, and this guy hasn't seen any other Sages (those must be the people that work here) or the Elder (the head Sage?) leave the tower. I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Is Ethan okay?

"Do you need us to go up and check on them?" Jayce offers.

The Sage anxiously scans our faces. "I...I suppose it couldn't hurt," he says.

That's all the confirmation we need. Jayce and I hurry up the staircase onto a completely deserted second floor. The third floor is equally as empty, and our footsteps echo through the floorboards. The pole in the center of the room really seems to be swaying now, and I'm nervous. If they haven't left, where are all the people?

The fourth floor is vacant, too, but there is one difference: we can hear voices. They seem to be coming from the fifth and final floor, above us. I look over at Jayce, who is looking back at me.

"Are we going up?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess so," I say, and I feel my hands start to tremble.

"It's nothing," he says, bumping me lightly as he starts to walk toward the stairs. "Don't worry about it. They're probably just having a meeting or something and forgot to tell the Sage on the ground floor."

I notice he takes a Pokeball out of his pocket, though. Just in case.

Climbing the stairs, I hear that the voices have died down. As we get closer, I hear one voice speaking - a familiar voice.

A voice that makes my skin crawl.

**Whaddid ya think? I will freely admit that this chapter was not my best :/ **

** Please review and have a lovely day!**


	8. Two Questions

**All right. Get mentally prepared for this chapter, because it's kind of a big one. I'm a little nervous to see reactions, to be honest. Well, let's just see how this goes...**

"I want the TM," a certain red-haired someone says. "I beat you. I'm supposed to get it."

I freeze behind Jayce. The sight of the thief makes me want to throw up. I remember that I punched him, and briefly consider escaping down the stairs again.

The top floor contains three Sages, Ethan, the thief, and an old man leaning on a staff and wearing the same blue robes of the other Sages. He must be the Elder. The thief's Chikorita stands beside him. No one seems to have heard or seen us come in - the stairs are at the back of the room and the Elder is the only one facing us. He seems preoccupied by the thief, however.

"No." The old man's voice is surprisingly strong, and it echoes slightly through the room. "I wish to explain something to you first."

The thief scoffs. "I don't want to hear it. A weak old man like you can't have any advice to offer me."

My jaw drops. Well. Apparently his rudeness isn't just directed at me.

"You will hear me," the Elder insists. "Though you are a strong trainer, you have made a fatal mistake already. You have traded power for kindness, discipline for friendship. People who do this end up leading terrible lives. You cannot expect everything from your Pokemon and give nothing back." The Elder turns his head, looking at the wall blankly. "I remember a young man once...well...not so long ago, really...he destroyed me in battle as well." The Elder turns back toward the thief, and I see a cold fire in his eyes. "No respect for Pokemon whatsoever. He ended up creating a worldwide organization designed to steal Pokemon. Does Team Rocket ring a bell?"

_Team Rocket? _Wait, this guy the Elder's talking about...he _created_ it?

Without warning, the thief lunges forward at the Elder. I don't think and sprint across the room, and I hear Jayce following behind me. It's not like I can stand by and watch while he beats up an old man, right?

The Elder wordlessly whips out the staff he's been leaning on and blocks each of the thief's strikes effortlessly. Jayce helps me restrain the thief, and I wonder for a moment why my encounters with him always end in someone getting punched.

His arms are tense and trembling slightly, and he strains toward the Elder as we pull him away. He's much stronger than me, and I'm sure that if Jayce wasn't helping me, he would break free.

"Never," he hisses, and it's like I can _feel_ the rage radiating from him. "_Never _compare me to _him_."

The Elder's face is still impassive, and he reaches into his robes and tosses a CD-shaped something at the thief's feet. "Take it. You'll need it if you want to become..._great_." He says the word like it's a joke.

It seems like we stand there forever: Jayce and I holding the thief back, the Elder staring intently at the thief's face, the three Sages and Ethan standing silent behind us, and the CD-thing laying on the ground.

In that eternity, I can't help but think that the Elder was kind of provoking the thief. Not that I feel sorry for him - I don't. At all. He's still a terrible person. It's just that the Elder seemed kind of hostile, too. I mean, comparing him to the founder of Team Rocket? That's kind of a low blow.

Then again, the thief's reaction was an explosion, in a way that makes me wonder if there's something more to the Elder's comparison. The pure hatred in the thief's eyes and the way he just snapped makes it seem almost...personal.

I feel the thief relax, but I don't let go of him. I don't trust him at all.

Someone clears their throat behind us, and I turn my head and see that it's Ethan. He's watching uncomfortably, and his eyes meet mine. He probably just wants to get out of here.

All of a sudden, the thief lurches out of my grip, and a quick glance across from me confirms that he took Jayce by surprise, too. He doesn't attack the Elder again, though, just bends over, picks up the CD-thing, and turns to me.

"How come you keep showing up?" he asks, his face empty of emotion, his voice almost completely monotone. It's like he's compensating for the passion he showed in his outburst. "Are you following me or something?"

"No," I say, averting my eyes. He scares me even more now, after I saw him snap like that. I wonder if he's completely sane.

A mirthless smirk appears on his face, and he glances over at Jayce. "Traveling with her?" he sneers. "Really? From what I've heard, you're not a bad trainer. Why stoop so low?"

"Leave her alone," Jayce says. He sounds almost bored, but his tense body and flashing eyes give him away. "You've got what you came for. Just go."

I feel like Jayce shouldn't have to defend me. Last time I saw this guy, I punched him in the face. Where did that courage go? Why do I feel so paralyzed?

And how has the thief "heard" things about Jayce?

"Fine." The thief slips the CD into his pocket and walks back to the stairs. His Chikorita trots after him - I had barely noticed it was in the room. I think of the bond I feel between Totodile and myself and think that if I was being restrained by someone, Totodile would probably do something. That his Chikorita just watched that happen makes me think maybe the Elder wasn't too far off base with his accusations.

"Who are you?" the Elder says. I turn around to face him.

"I'm Hazel, and this is Jayce," I say. "We were looking for our friend, Ethan, and we wound up here."

The Elder nods. "Ethan entered the room as I was beginning my battle with the young man that just left. Ethan said he was looking for a Pokemon, but I didn't have time to help him..."

"We found it, sir," Jayce interjects, gesturing to Totodile in my arms.

"Glad to hear it," the Elder says. "Now, I believe we should be closing up for the night. My Pokemon are exhausted, and I'm sure I can say the same of you gentlemen." He indicates the Sages.

"Can I ask a question?" I say tentatively.

"Go ahead," the Elder says absentmindedly, watching the Sages file down the stairs. The ground floor Sage will be glad to know that everything's all right - I guess it was technically just a battle that ran late.

"What was that thing that you gave...that guy?" I inwardly wince at how vague that sounded.

"A TM," the Elder replies, turning around and fiddling with something on the table behind him. When he turns around, he is holding an exact copy of the CD he gave the thief. "It stands for Technical Machine - a wondrous thing that contains a move that you can teach to your Pokemon. This particular TM is rather coveted - it contains Flash, a move that Pokemon can use to illuminate dark places such as caves." He walks over and hands it to me. "Take it."

"What? But I didn't even battle you!" I protest.

He waves a hand. "Doesn't matter. I'm sure you'll want to be on your way tomorrow, and that may come in handy in the near future."

Shocked, I watch as the old man shuffles down the stairs, leaving Jayce, Ethan, and me alone.

"Well." Ethan breaks the silence. I notice now how he doesn't really look at Jayce, doesn't acknowledge his presence. _What is going on?_ "You should probably take this, Hazel." He hands me the gift-wrapped package that he had before.

I slowly rip off the carelessly wrapped paper and find...a small, shiny, red computer-like thing. "Um...what is it?"

"It's a Pokedex," Ethan says excitedly. He takes it and flips it open, revealing a glowing white screen. He points it at Totodile standing next to me, and the screen lights up with information - Totodile's level, moves, stats, and more. I don't know what _any_ of it means, but the moves would have been helpful to know before my first few battles. "It automatically records the Pokemon you catch, and if you just point it at a Pokemon, you can get all sorts of information on it." He hands it back to me, searching my face for the excitement he obviously feels. "Professor Oak from Kanto invented it."

"Awesome." I smile. "Once I figure out how to work it, I'm sure I'll love it. Thanks."

Ethan grins. "No problem! Hopefully I'll see you around the region!" He hurries down the stairs, and now it's just me and a subdued Jayce.

"We need to talk," I say.

He opens his mouth as if to protest, but quickly closes it and gives a slight nod.  
We turn to go down the stairs in silence, and I realize that I really don't know the person I'm about to spend my journey with.

That's kind of a depressing thought.

* * *

"Okay. Here's what we're going to do," I say. We're sitting on the bridge outside of Sprout Tower, and I'm looking up at the stars. "We're going to play Twenty Questions. I guess we don't actually have to reach twenty, but it's that general idea."

"Are you kidding me?" Jayce says, and I hear a smile in his voice.

"I am not kidding you," I say. "Jayce, we're going to be spending...well, a lot of time together, right?" I look up at him. His eyes are trained on the water. "We should probably know each other pretty well."

"Can't argue with that," Jayce says, and he looks at me with a smile. "Okay. I'll ask one first."

"Shoot," I say, watching Totodile, who is splashing around in the pond again.

"Family," he says. "Tell me about your family."

"Jeez..." I say, closing my eyes. "Um, well, I live with my mom. I don't remember my dad at all. He left us when I was really little."

"Left...like died?"

"No. He just left. Left the region. I don't know. Like I said, I was really little. I never really talked about it with my mom."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Like I said, I never knew him. I don't remember anything about him. Mom didn't even keep any pictures of him. It's really not a huge deal."

"Okay. As long as you're all right, I guess." Jayce lets his Growlithe out of its Pokeball. It settles in his lap, yawning, and he starts rubbing its head. The picture is really sweet, and I smile. You can feel the connection between them.

"I have one for you," I say, needing to clear quite a few things up. "How do you know Ethan?"

Jayce bites his lip and stares at the planks in the bridge under him. "It's a long story."

"Jayce, we're sitting on a _bridge_. In the middle of the night. We're not exactly in a hurry here."

"I hope you don't mind staying up all night, then."

"I do that already," I laugh. "Insomnia, remember?"

"Right." He takes a breath, lets it out. "So...Ethan tried...to send me to...an orphanage." He pushes the last word out with determination, and the rest of the story flows from him, rushing like a waterfall.

"This is going to be the weirdest story you've ever heard. I don't understand it myself." Another deep breath. "My first memory is from when I was probably about five, and I woke up somewhere I'd never seen before. It wasn't a house, it was a forest." He once again has his voice under control, but his eyes are wide and he almost looks...scared. Like he must have been back then. "It was the Ilex Forest, but I didn't know that then. I didn't have a memory of any kind of past - I just knew my name."

Growlithe is gently snoring, and Jayce is still running his hands methodically through the soft Pokemon's fur.

"Ethan was...the first person I saw. He had that Marill with him even then, but other than that, he was alone. He was just a year older than me, I guess, but he seemed bigger, like he'd know what to do. I tried to explain what was going on, and he seemed like he knew what to do. But instead of helping me, he took me to an orphanage in some town - I don't know where - and told them I was a runaway. He just completely disregarded what I was trying to tell him - that I _wasn't_ a runaway, that I maybe had a family somewhere, but I just didn't remember them."

It feels kind of hard to breathe. "They believed...a six-year-old?"

"They knew him. He'd been everywhere, even then. And they definitely believed him over the kid who looked like he'd been sleeping in a forest and claimed to not remember anything." Jayce puts his head in his hands, and even his voice sounds strained now. "The orphanage sucked. The kids, the adults - they were all mean. I guess everyone there was just waiting for something that would never come, you know? I hated it. I ran away after about a year." He lets out a short breath that I guess you could technically call a laugh. "I know how cliché this sounds."

"It doesn't," I say quietly. I haven't taken my eyes from his face since he said the word 'orphanage'. This is incredibly painful for him to say, and I know it. No memories? At all? I've heard of the brain erasing traumatic experiences before, but a whole five years of his life? Gone?

"Then...I wandered the region for the longest time. Somehow, I found my way to Mr. Pokemon's house. He was taking a walk when I saw him. He told me to come inside and refused to take no for an answer. I liked him. I could forget...all that stuff. I started reading books, working with Pokemon, and I loved it. I realized I could do something. I could be someone."

A deep breath that shudders. I don't know how to console him, but now isn't the time for being awkward. I move closer and put my hand on his arm, which is tense and trembling.

"Enter Ethan again, about four years later. I was ten. Mr. Pokemon knows Ethan, too, and he came to Mr. Pokemon's house to deliver something. I don't know. He saw me, recognized me and told Mr. Pokemon everything about me. He told Mr. Pokemon I needed to go back to the orphanage." He lifts his head, looks me in the eyes. A rush goes through me. "I said I'd rather die."

I smile a little, but it's a sad smile, and I know it.

"He left, but I've always been afraid he'd come back with the officials from the orphanage or something. Just...seeing him was kind of a shock. I'm sorry for being so rude about it - "

"Jayce. Don't," I sigh. "I had no idea that it went that far back. It's not your fault. Anyone would be shaken up."

"Maybe. But I shouldn't have handled it the way I did. I should have talked to him about it or something." His voice is returning to normal, but my hand stays on his arm, because he's still shaking. I get that feeling that I got when he was lifting me in the Gym again - like he's so much more solid than everything else, and again, it's ironically dizzying. "I mean, he was just a kid, right? He was just trying to help. A lot's happened since then."

"You're right," I say. "But that doesn't mean it's your fault you reacted the way you did."

We're quiet for a while. I notice that at some point in Jayce's story, Totodile swam up to the edge of the bridge to listen. It locks eyes with me for a moment, then scrambles up onto the bridge and nuzzles my side with its wet snout.

The night is gorgeous, if a bit cool, and now that Totodile's out of the water, the pond is still and reflects the starlight.

"I think that's enough Twenty-Questioning," I whisper, and I feel my shoulder bump Jayce's and stay there. A jolt runs through me. How did that happen? I must have been leaning to the side.

A soft laugh. "We each asked one question, Hazel."

I laugh, too. "From now on, we'll play Two Questions."

"Such a thorough way to get to know someone."

I yawn. "We should probably go back to the Pokemon Center."

"Probably."

But neither of us move. I look up at the starry sky again, and for some reason, my mind goes to the thief. I realize for the first time that I don't even know his name.

Why would someone steal a Pokemon? It's easy enough to go out and catch one for yourself. I close my eyes. He must have lived in a place without many Pokemon. What other explanation is there?

Suddenly, I remember something he said before I hit him the other day - _I have to follow the path set for me_ - and I know that there is another explanation.

Someone must have decided that Pokemon training wasn't in his future - and he took matters into his own hands.

* * *

I open my eyes, feeling amazingly well-rested, if a bit stiff. The sun is incredibly bright, and I squint confusedly. What...?

I turn my head and see...Jayce's neck. I jerk back and realize that he's sleeping, propped up against the bridge railing, more or less in the same position he was in last night.

I also realize that I just slept all night with my head on his shoulder.

I feel my face get hot. Well. If there is a definition of awkward, this is probably it.

**Like? Yes? No? Kind of? I'm expecting Jayce's backstory to be kinda controversial, so let me know what you think(: Thank you!**


	9. Archaeology at its Worst

All right. So I just slept on a guy's shoulder. So what? I mean, it's Jayce, right? He doesn't even have to know I slept on him.

Oh God, that sounds so wrong.

Totodile is curled up on the sun-warmed planks of the bridge, and Growlithe is still comfortably settled in Jayce's lap. I smile a little when I see that Jayce's hand still rests on Growlithe's head - he must have fallen asleep petting it.

Something hits me - I didn't have any trouble falling asleep last night. My mind wasn't full of questions and wonderings and possible mistakes. It was...easy.

I hesitantly reach over and shake Jayce awake. "Rise and shine."

His arches his back and stretches as his eyes flutter open. "Wha - ? Oh. We fell asleep on the bridge, didn't we?" he yawns.

"Yup." I poke Totodile and grin as it squirms, less than happy about being woken up.

"I'm surprised we didn't get arrested. " He runs a hand through his hair and gently returns a still-sleeping Growlithe to its Pokeball. He then gets up, rubbing his eyes like a little kid. "So what next?"  
"Wow. I don't know...um, I guess we keep going to the next town?" I say, a little taken aback by the immediate question. "But we should probably grab breakfast first."

"Right."

"Oh, wait!" I reach into the backpack Joy gave me and pull out my new Pokedex. "I kind of want to try this out." I point it at Totodile, and the screen fills with information.

I scroll through the text. Within seconds, I have learned that Totodile is a female with an Impish nature. She's at level seven and knows the moves Scratch, Growl, and Water Gun. There's also a couple sentences on Totodiles in general, and I read it aloud.

"It is small but rough and tough. It won't hesitate to take a bite out of anything that moves." I grin at Totodile. "Sounds like you."

Totodile gives me an innocent _Who, me?_ look.

"That thing's pretty cool," Jayce says. "Can I see it?"

"Sure." I hand him the little computer and turn to Totodile, thinking. Now that I know the gender of my little Pokemon... "Jayce? Do you think I should name her?"

He glances up at me from the Pokedex screen. "Why not?"

I crouch down to be at eye level with Totodile. "What do you think? Do you want a name?"

She hops up and down and gives me one of her toothy smiles.

I smile. "Okay. Hmmm...it should be something with water, obviously." I think of her mischievous nature, and the memory of her splashing around in the pond we stand above runs through my mind. "Splash?" I try it out. "Is that lame?"

Jayce grins. "It doesn't exactly strike fear into the heart of your opponent."

"Good," I shoot back. "Then they'll be taken by surprise." The newly christened Splash clicks her jaw happily and spins in a circle. "See? She likes it."  
"Whatever you say." Jayce hands me back the Pokedex, grinning. "What about your Vulpix?"

"Oh, right!" I drop my Pokeball to the ground and the furry, rust-colored Pokemon appears with a flash. Its intelligent green eyes fix on me, and I point the Pokedex at it. My Vulpix is a level eight female, and it knows the moves Ember, Tail Whip, and Roar. I'm not sure what Roar does, so I select it on the Pokedex screen and learn that it scares the enemy Pokemon enough to make it return to its trainer, and a new one must be sent out. Could be useful.

I examine the little fox Pokemon in its white cast. I remember how she oh-so-easily defeated Falkner's Pidgeotto - a Pokemon that was definitely at a higher level than her - purely through strategy and clever tactics.

"Marie," I decide. "Like Marie Curie? That woman who discovered the x-ray?"

"Hey, that one's pretty good," Jayce admits. "For one thing, she's obviously very intelligent, and for another, without x-rays, she'd have been screwed."

I smile down at the Vulpix. "Is 'Marie' okay?"

The Vulpix tilts her head to one side as if considering and squints at me. After a while, she nods serenely.

"Great!" I reach down to pet her, but her eyes narrow and her upper lip curls into a snarl. Jayce grabs my arm unnecessarily, preventing me from touching her - not that I would have anyway.

I remember her wounds, her fragile form curled in the cage that Jayce carried to Violet City. After what happened to her...what possible reason would she have to trust another human?

"Sorry," I say softly, and Jayce takes his hand from my arm. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Marie's snarl fades, but she still regards me suspiciously. I hold out her Pokeball and she presses her nose into it, never taking her eyes from me until the white light completely engulfs her.

"Well." Jayce slips his hands into his pockets. "Should we go get some breakfast?"

"Yeah," I murmur, still looking at the spot where Marie disappeared. "Yeah, probably."

* * *

We decide that we want to get going, so we take breakfast - some delicious homemade cinnamon rolls - to go. As the gray stone beneath our feet gives way to grass, I wonder again just what I've gotten myself into. The life of a trainer is so different from the comfortable, quiet, monotonous, _safe_ life I lived in New Bark. There's danger, inconsistency, and homesickness everywhere.

And yet...I look down at Splash, who is happily chomping on some berries I bought, figuring cinnamon rolls wouldn't be good for her. I look up at Jayce, licking frosting from his fingers.

And yet, I couldn't ask for better friends to be starting this life with.

"The Ruins of Alph are up ahead," Jayce says, breaking in on my thoughts. "Didn't you say you wanted to see them?"

"Oh yeah," I say, remembering his description of the place. "Sure. I mean, it sounds pretty cool."

"Well, we have to go through them to get to Azalea Town anyway," Jayce says.

Up ahead, the road forks. "Which way?"

"To the left," Jayce says. We turn - and I stop dead.

Huge, crumbling temples stand at somewhat regular intervals. The ground is loose, dark soil with random pits and ditches, as if people have been digging here. Well, I guess it is an archaeological site.

What strikes me the most, however, is the atmosphere of the place. It _feels_ ancient, if that makes any sense. It's like I traveled thousands of years back just by stepping into the ruins. There's also a sense of barely suppressed power. It's hard to explain, but it's like the ground is trembling slightly, like the whole place could erupt at any moment.

"What...what _was_ this place?" I whisper. It just feels like the kind of place you would whisper.

"No one really knows," Jayce says quietly, moving forward. I follow him, and our feet make footprints in the spongy dirt. "I mean, that's why they turned it into an archaeological site. They want to know what went on here so many years ago."

"Why did you say you came here again?" We pass a small, tranquil pond that is a strikingly bright blue against the dark soil of the ruins.

"I was looking into a weird kind of Pokemon that only appears here. They're called Unowns." Jayce points to a nearby temple. "They're all over the place when you walk in one of those."

"Can we go in?"

"I think so. The place is generally open to the public. Unless it's roped off or something, it's probably okay to go in."

I approach the structure's entryway and look inside. All I can see is darkness. Splash claws her way up my back to look over my shoulder. "Is it...safe?"

"Um...kind of?"

"Very reassuring."

"Well, there are a few holes in the floor and you may literally run into a few archaeologists, but other than that..."

"I'm going to break my leg or something." I take a step inside, and the temperature instantly drops ten degrees. It's like I'm in a cave.

"You'll have to go farther in if you want to see some Unown. They don't seem to like the light much," Jayce says from behind me. "They never leave the temples, and you usually find them in more remote chambers. That's the reason archaeologists don't bring lanterns or flashlights in here - they'd scare off the Pokemon. They use night vision goggles."

"Great. Do you think they'd have an extra pair?" I'm already reconsidering this idea, but I don't want to look like a coward. I take a deep breath and focus on putting one foot in front of the other. It's just the dark, and if I'm careful, I won't fall through the floor.

Splash remains motionless on my shoulder, and I wonder if she's scared, too. I reach up and take her into my arms, just in case. And, okay, because it makes _me_ feel safer, too.

My right foot hits something hard. I reach out carefully with my arms, and almost laugh thinking how stupid I must look. My fingertips touch a flat, vertical surface.

"There's a wall here," I tell Jayce.

"There should be a doorway somewhere that leads to the next chamber...can you find it?" It's really creepy talking to Jayce's disembodied voice.

I close my eyes, because it doesn't make a difference if they're open or not, and start walking along the wall, one hand trailing the smooth surface. After a while, I come to a break in the wall. "Found it," I say, and I walk through, hoping Jayce is following me.

_Whirr._

Something goes whizzing unbelievably quickly past my face, and I'm temporarily blinded by the light it seems to be emitting. I bite my tongue to keep from crying out, and the glow quickly disappears.

"Did you see that?" I whisper, freezing in the doorway. I can tell that Jayce is behind me - close enough that I can feel his body heat, but not actually touching me.

"Yeah," he says quietly. "That was probably an Unown."

I stand there for a while, trying to grapple with my nerves and my pounding heart that I'm sure Jayce can hear. As I stand there, I realize that my eyes are starting to adjust, slowly but surely. There are several muffled glows in the room - they must be coming from Unown.

"All right," I whisper. "Let's go..."

I walk slowly toward the nearest glow, and as I get closer the glow takes on a shape - a perfect white circle with one small dark spot in the middle. _An eye._

The eye is blank and emotionless, and it regards me indifferently as I carefully inch closer. From its glow, I can see a thin, smooth black body with spindly appendages surrounding the eye. The creature is hovering in midair, staring at me with its unblinking eye.

"They're really creepy," I whisper to Jayce. I set Splash on my shoulder to free my hands and with slow movements, I get out my Pokedex and point it at the strange Pokemon.

I scroll through the text, trying to ignore the eye that is still trained on me. "Why doesn't it have a gender?"

"Who knows?" Jayce's profile is visible next to me from the glow of the Unown. "I mean, Mr. Pokemon came up with a theory that they don't need to reproduce because they live forever. But it's not really enough of a breakthrough to start researching Unown to prove it, and so it remains a theory."

"If they live forever, why isn't it at a higher level than five?" I mutter, slipping the Pokedex back in my bag. "And it only knows one move."

"They _always_ only know one move," Jayce says. "Some curious archaeologist tried to train one and see if it learned any new moves. It doesn't."

"_Ever_?" I turn and can see the doorway from the glows of various Unown. "What trainer would ever use them in a battle? That's ridiculous."

"Well, there's a lot we don't know about them," Jayce admits as we head back to the entrance of the ruin.

The sunlight of the outdoors is dazzling and I have to shield my eyes for a moment. When the glare of the sun fades I let Jayce take the lead, assuming he knows how to get out of the ruins. The path we follow weaves around more crumbling buildings and tents where I can only assume the archaeologists stay. We pass a shallow ditch crawling with people who are carefully brushing dirt from various objects.

All of the archaeologists are talking excitedly as they work, but a hush falls over them as we pass their little digging site. I look over at them, wondering what could be going on, to find them all staring at me.

Startled, I look at Jayce, who looks as confused as I do...and then his eyes grow wide as he focuses on something over my left shoulder.

I whirl around, ready for the thief, a huge Pokemon, something terrifying...but...

What's behind me are six small, black, spindly Pokemon that wouldn't be remotely threatening if I didn't know that they never leave the temples.

They float above the ground just above my head, staring at me with those unblinking eyes. They wait a second, seemingly for me to get over my shock, and then rearrange themselves quickly. That's when I realize that they don't all look identical.

Their thin appendages stick out from their eyes in different places. So when they organize themselves like that...they almost look like...

A word.

The first letter is somewhat difficult to figure out, but it looks like an R. The next one is simple, it's obviously an O. Then a C, then what appears to be a K, an E...and a T.

_Rocket_.

All six Unown stare at me for a few more moments. Then the R spins in a sharp half circle and darts through the air, back toward the temple I entered earlier, the other five trailing it.

I realize my mouth is hanging open.

I slowly turn and look up at Jayce, who looks speechless. His right eyebrow is arched and his eyes are the size of tennis balls.

An archaeologist clears his throat from the digging site. "Well."

I turn quickly toward the archaeologist - a young man with blonde hair, angular cheekbones, and sharp green eyes. "Care to explain?"

I open my mouth, but no words come out. Explain? I have absolutely no idea what just happened.

"Perhaps some tea," the young man suggests, and he stands up and brushes the dirt from his jeans. He motions for the other archaeologists to resume their digging and walks toward a nearby tent.

"Um, I think we're supposed to follow him," Jayce mutters, and gives me a slight shove. I stumble forward, shoot him a dirty look, and hurry after the young man.

He disappears into a dirty white tent, and I enter as well, holding the flap for Jayce to follow me in. Splash has remained on my shoulder throughout all of this - she's being amazingly silent for once.

"All right," the man remarks once Jayce and I have entered. The tent is cramped, and a tea kettle and some teacups sit in the center of it, surrounded by pillows. The man takes a seat on one of the pillows, so Jayce and I follow his lead. "Let's make some introductions first, shall we? I'm Ryker." He points to me.

"My name's Hazel." He points to Jayce.

"Jayce."

"Wonderful. Now, I'd like to know how you got those Unown to follow you out of the ruin. We've been trying to do that for _ages_." He reaches for the tea kettle and pours some tea into three teacups, muttering something about how it should still be kind of warm from this morning.

"Uh..." I stare at the pillow underneath me. It's a faded purple with hideous tassels. "I...don't know."

Ryker hands a teacup to me, then one to Jayce. "Really," he says skeptically. Smears of dirt stain his white T-shirt. "I suppose you just think you're so special that they followed you out, then? You and no one else?" He takes a sip of tea, then continues sarcastically. "Are you wearing a special kind of Pokemon-attracting perfume? Did you punch one in the face, and they came after you for revenge? Do you make a habit of filling your pockets with aromatic cookies?"

I would smile, but his tone of voice is more mocking than comical. "I - I really don't know why they came out - " I try, but he cuts in again.

"Why the message? 'Rocket'," he muses, staring at me. "Clearly not as in 'scientist', you can't even form a simple sentence - "

My jaw drops. "Excuse me," I say, "but you're not letting me finish."

"And what would you say if you could finish?" Ryker's mouth quirks up into a half smile. "So far all I've heard you say is 'I don't know', and I was merely speculating to see if I could jog your memory."

I take a deep breath. This guy irritates me. "I would say that while I don't know _why_ they followed me out, I have an idea - "

"Ahh, an _idea_!" Ryker cries sarcastically. "It's not as if you know for sure, it's not as if you were trying to _avoid_ telling me - "

"Will you let her finish?" Jayce cuts in, looking annoyed. "You don't even know what she's going to say."

Ryker grins. He's _enjoying_ this. What is with him?

"I have an idea," I continue, feeling flustered, "about what the _message_ meant."

Ryker cocks his head but says nothing, so I keep talking.

"Team Rocket," I say. "Aren't they a criminal organization or something?"

Surprise registers on the arrogant man's face for a moment, but then it's gone. "Well, in Kanto, yes," he says. Kanto - that's the region across the sea. "But I heard they were shut down by a powerful trainer, and their boss has gone into hiding. I don't know what business they would have coming here, or why a group of Unown would know about them."

"We ran into a few members the other day, actually," Jayce says. "On the route between Violet and Cherrygrove. So maybe they're a bit more organized than you think." I have to bite back a smile at the subtle sarcasm in his voice.

"Maybe so," Ryker says. He takes a swig of tea, then looks back up at us and makes a shooing motion with his hands. "All right, you can get out now."

Jayce's head snaps toward me, outraged at his manners, but I just set down my teacup and walk out, grabbing Jayce's arm to pull him out with me.

"Can I set his tent on fire?" Jayce seethes, plunging his hand in his pocket for Growlithe's Pokeball.

"No," I say, grinning, and continue walking through the ruins. "We should probably just get out of here." My smile fades as I realize that Ryker or not, the Unown followed me out of that ruin, and I have no idea why. "Yeah, we should definitely just get out of here."

**So there you go! Sorry I waited so long to name Splash - when I play the games I always give my Pokemon nicknames, but I didn't want Hazel to name Totodile without knowing the gender... Next chapter should be up soonish, like in a few days, and yeah! Please leave a review and tell me what you thought(:**


	10. On the Way

**Sorry this chapter took me a while to update - I've been kinda busy lately. Enjoy!**

"Ow. Okay, _ow_. Jayce, call off your stupid...thing."

We're well onto Route 32, as a sign tells us. It's mostly rocky terrain with large boulders, however, patches of wild grass grow here and there, and I know that if I want to find a wild Pokemon, all I would have to do is walk to the center of one and wait.

Jayce has released his Pokemon so they can walk with us, and one of them - the green-and-purple one that floats - keeps pulling my hair.

Jayce just grins. "She's just playing."

"Well, it hurts." I push her away from my head. "What is she, anyway?"

"She's a Misdreavus. A Ghost-type Pokemon." Jayce cups his hands and encircles the ghost carefully, then sets her on his own head. She shrieks happily, grabs two fistfuls of his hair, and yanks it hard.

"That doesn't _hurt_?" I ask, horrified.

"Nah. Just tickles a little. She's cute, isn't she?"

"Adorable." I'm not sure if he catches the sarcasm or not. I turn and point at the plant Pokemon with the yellow, bell-shaped head. It's ambling along on thin, root-shaped legs behind Jayce. "What's that one?"

"Bellsprout. He's a Grass/Poison type mixture. He's a little bit younger than the others, but he's already pretty strong." Misdreavus grabs a fistful of Jayce's hair again. "And then the last one is Mankey...he's around here somewhere..."

I turn and point. "There?" Jayce's white-furred Pokemon is scrambling up a nearby rocky cliff face, hopping from boulder to boulder on nimble, brown appendages. "Are you okay with him just...running off like that?"

Jayce grins. "Oh, he'll come back. Mankey!" he calls up to the Pokemon. It turns and looks expectantly. "Be careful."

The furry creature nods solemnly and continues hopping up the cliff.

"He's a strange one," Jayce says as we continue along the route. "He likes to be alone. I think he likes to feel independent or something. He's a Fighting type, like Machoke."

I hear something like loneliness in his voice when he says Machoke's name, and I look up at him. "Do you miss him? Machoke, I mean?"

"Well...yeah." Jayce admits. His expression is incredibly serious considering he's wearing Misdreavus like a hat. "He's been with me kind of constantly ever since I was little. I mean, these guys - " he gestures to his Pokemon around him - "these guys are amazing, but Machoke...he'll always be special, I guess. If there was a way to go back and get him, I'd do it in a heartbeat." He stuffs his hands in his jeans pockets.

I feel kind of guilty. Technically, it's my fault that Machoke isn't here with us. If I hadn't run off in Cherrygrove, Jayce wouldn't have been separated from Machoke...

But then I wouldn't have started this journey. And I guess I wouldn't have really known Jayce at all. So it's really beside the point.

I can't help but feel guilty, though.

"Hey!" a voice shouts from our right. I look over and see a kid quite a bit younger than me grinning at us from in front of a large boulder. "You've got Pokemon - wanna battle?"

I look up at Jayce. "Do we?"

"He phrases it like that, but we don't have much of a choice unless there's some kind of emergency," Jayce admits. "It's common etiquette. The towns in this part of the region are pretty small, and not many people leave to become trainers, so route battles aren't as common around here. It'll probably get more intense the more we travel." He smoothes down his hair, which Misdreavus promptly grabs again. "Anyway, it'll be good for you. You're going to have to do a lot of training anyway, if you want to beat more Gym Leaders."

"Right." I sigh. Obviously, I have to battle to train. Because I'm a _train_er.

"Let's go!" the kid shouts, and hurries forward excitedly. "Go, Rattata!" He tosses a Pokeball forward and a small, purple, rat-like Pokemon appears in a burst of white light. The Pokemon gnaws on its lower lip and stares at me with red eyes.

"Okay, Splash, get ready," I order, and my Totodile obediently hops in front of me, sizing up the Rattata.

"Rattata, bite it!"

"Splash, hit it with a Water Gun!"

Splash's jaw unhinges and a blast of water smashes into the rat Pokemon, making it stumble backward.

"Come on, Rattata!" the boy urges his Pokemon. The Rattata leaps into the air quickly and sinks its teeth into Splash.

"Scratch it, Splash!"

Splash reaches up and claws the Rattata from her body, growing low. Her reptilian eyes narrow as she waits for its next move.

"Rattata, use the terrain! Bite it again!"

_Use the terrain?_ I watch as the rat hops nimbly up onto a nearby boulder and launches itself at Splash, biting her again with sharp teeth. This time, she has a harder time shaking it off. She's obviously getting tired.

"Hang in there, Splash. Water Gun!"

The blue crocodile blasts the rat with another jet of water, and it slams into the boulder it leaped from and sinks to the ground, dazed.

"Finish it off! Scratch!"

Splash charges up to the rat and swipes at it a final time, knocking it out.

"Hey, you're pretty good!" The kid grins at me, returning his unconscious Rattata to its Pokeball.

I flash him a quick grin, but my eyes are on Splash as she sways unsteadily. She's not in good shape. "Thanks."

"Yep! Well, I'll get out of your way - guess I'm going to have to train more if I want to challenge Bugsy. See you around!" He waves and trots back in the direction of Violet City, presumably to heal his Pokemon.

I scoop up a wobbly Splash and turn to Jayce. "Bugsy?"

"He's the Gym Leader in Azalea Town," Jayce says. "Bet you can't guess what type of Pokemon he uses."

"No idea," I say dryly, rubbing Splash's head. "Please tell me it's a nickname. What kind of horrible parents would name their child 'Bugsy'?"

"I can only assume it's a nickname," Jayce grins. "It's a little too convenient that he grew up to be obsessed with bug-type Pokemon." He nods at Splash. "Is she okay?"

"Not doing too well," I say. "Should we go all the way back to the Pokemon Center?"

Jayce shakes his head. "Didn't you get a bag from Joy, too?" He gestures to the one on his own back, and I remember that the bag has Pokemon medicine in it. "Does yours have potions in it?"

I slide it from my back. "Is that what this is?" I pull out a purple spray bottle.

"Yeah. That should do the trick."

I gently squeeze the trigger and spray Splash. She squints her eyes and shivers as the cool spray hits her, then shakes herself, looking refreshed.

"All better?" I ask her, standing up. She responds with a sunny smile, and I grin. "Then let's keep going."

We walk in silence for a while, disrupted only when Mankey returns, scrambling down a rocky slope to join us. Jayce smiles when he sees the serious-faced Pokemon.

"Oh - Hazel," he says a few minutes later, as the afternoon sun seems to be cooling. "Something I noticed when you were battling that kid - know how he used the terrain? With the boulders and rocks and stuff?"

"Yeah," I say.

"Well, that's basic strategy. When you train, you might want to work on that with your Pokemon. It can only help you in battles." He pauses. "And...speaking of training, you're going to need to do a lot of it if you want to beat Bugsy in Azalea. He's pretty tough. I'm thinking, like...a day-to-day schedule?"

For some reason, his advice rubs me the wrong way, but I don't say anything. Does he think that I'm not good enough to go up against Bugsy? "I thought you said you don't battle that much. How do you know so much about it, then?" I say - okay, somewhat accusatorily.

"Well - I don't, I guess." Jayce sounds somewhat taken aback. "I mean, I battled more when I was younger...I just thought maybe a more defined training schedule would help you out."

I don't say anything, but I'm still feeling annoyed. I'll be fine. I don't need to train so _intensely_. I mean, a schedule? Seriously? I beat Falkner, didn't I?

We walk as the sun starts to slip lower in the sky, and I start to wonder what we'll do if we don't reach Azalea before sundown.

Up ahead, I see a metallic, bridge-like structure spanning a grassy path. "What's that?" I ask.

"Not sure," Jayce admits. "I think they're train tracks or something. They're probably coming from Goldenrod City - that's the biggest city in the region."

We keep heading down the path, passing underneath the cool shadow of the tracks. I'm starting to feel exhausted. Splash yawns widely, and her jaws snap back together with a click. How much farther do we have to travel?

Then I hear a sharp, human cry, and it jolts me wide awake.

"What the hell was that?" I look wildly around, expecting an axe murderer to leap out from behind a craggy boulder.

Jayce freezes. He quickly returns each of his Pokemon to their Pokeball. "I don't know," he says quietly. Another scream pierces the air, and it sounds like - it sounds like a kid. It's coming from up ahead in the distance.

I don't think.

Before I know what I'm doing, I've grabbed Splash and I'm sprinting toward the sound. My heart is pounding in my ears, and I know I'm being impulsive and stupid, and that there's probably something really dangerous behind the scream, but it occurs to me that the only reason I am on this journey is because I was impulsive. Maybe it's not such a bad thing.

I'm not sure if Jayce is following me. I hope he is. I reach a curve on the rocky path and turn the corner sharply -

And there's a group of people dressed in black standing there. _Rockets._ They've surrounded themselves with Pokemon - I recognize a few Zubat, Ekans, and Rattata among the Pokemon - and there's a little girl in the coils of one of the Ekans. Tears are streaming down her face.

A small crowd - ten people or so - are clustered to the side of the black-clothed criminals. I recognize the white attire of Pokemon Center workers on most of them, although there are one or two people who look as if they are travelers who just happened to be caught up in this. The red roof of a Pokemon Center is visible nearby.

"Just hand over the Pokemon," one of the goons calls. "We promise that we won't harm the girl if the Pokemon are given to us."

"Splash," I gasp, out of breath from running. My brave little Pokemon leaps from my arms, and I toss out Marie's Pokeball as well, thinking of nothing but saving the girl.

I pant, skidding to a stop, and watch as Marie and Splash attack the Ekans. Marie keeps her distance wisely, firing embers, but Splash claws angrily at the snakelike Pokemon. She doesn't seem to want to use Water Gun, probably because she's afraid of harming the girl.

"What the - " one of the criminals sputters. "Where did these Pokemon come from? Ekans, get rid of them!"

The snake hisses angrily and sinks its teeth into Splash's side. I try to scream, but I'm still breathless from my sprint, and it chokes in my throat. Splash is tossed aside like a ragdoll, and lies still.

The goons are turning around confusedly, and a few more order their Pokemon to attack Marie. She goes down with a cry as a small group of Rattata pounce on her.

Now, no one is paying attention to the Ekans or the girl it is squeezing - and it's squeezing her tighter in its confusion. She struggles for breath, looking terrified.

Don't think.

I get up and run, diving at the Ekans and struggling to pry its coils from the girl. I hear shouts of surprise from the Rockets, but all that matters is the child. She's so small. My pulling at the coils is only making the snake squeeze tighter, so I try and hit its head.

_Yes._ The Ekans jolts backward in surprise, loosening its coils, and the girl is free. I act quickly, pulling her from the loose coils, adrenaline making it an easy task.

The Ekans whips its tail.

Ow.

I stare at my hand. A small, thin spike is embedded in it. The skin around the spike throbs purple beneath the surface. My whole hand aches, and it feels heavy. I have to let it drop into my lap.

There's chaos around me. Pokemon are moving, fighting, Rockets are running away. I'm not sure what's going on, exactly, but the heavy, achy feeling is spreading up my arm like someone injected me with lead. I blink, and I'm lying on my side. I wonder vaguely how that happened.

I wince. Now my stomach hurts, like when I had the flu when I was little. Mom let me stay in bed then. I should be in bed now.

There's someone standing over me, but my eyes aren't working right - there are big black spots in the way. What I can see is kind of fuzzy.

Someone's lifting me. I don't know how they can lift me when I feel so heavy - a million pounds, probably.

"I'm probably going to throw up on you," I try and inform the person carrying me, but my mouth doesn't work right. That kind of irritates me. Why won't I work?

My eyelids lower. I'm really, really tired. I've had a long day, and now my stomach hurts. I should rest.

As I slip out of consciousness and my aching body shuts down, I am dimly aware of a male voice that sounds pretty familiar...and it doesn't sound very happy.

It's saying, "Way to go, Hazel."

**Seriously, though, if you're still reading and have been from the beginning, I love you. Without you, Hazel would never have made it out of New Bark. Special thanks goes to RoseWing-chan, for being there from the very beginning and always giving such positive and helpful reviews(: You're great! Everyone, please keep reading and reviewing!**


	11. Recovery

**Hi! So, I have been rather sick lately, and I've been working on this chapter a bit longer than I've worked on others. I've just edited it more, it's not necessarily longer. I'm actually excited about it - not much happens as far as plot, but the character development was fun to write and I hope it'll be fun to read. Enjoy!**

I have a splitting headache, my mouth is dry, I'm covered in a cold sweat, and I ache everywhere. I feel feverish, like I'm smoldering. I want to go back to sleep. That's all that I can register.

"Hazel?"

I curl up in a ball. Something soft gives beneath me, and warm covers are draped on top of me. _Go away, _I think. _I just want to sleep._

"Hazel, your monitors say you're awake."

I groan and force my eyes open. I have to blink several times before the image in front of me stops shimmering strangely.

I'm lying in a hospital bed. Probably in a Pokemon Center. Jayce is sitting in a chair to the left of my bed. There are some weird needles in my arms that trail to boxy machines like tentacles. Hooray.

"Jayce?" I croak. I squeeze my eyes shut again, because everything wavers and it's making me dizzy. "Jayce, I think I'm going to puke."

"Wonderful." I hear a chair scraping against the floor, and footsteps. First they go away from my bed, then back to it. _Plunk._ "Do it in the trash can."

He doesn't sound happy with me. I breathe in sharply, focusing on not throwing up. I won't do it. It's disgusting. "Are you...mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?" Sarcastic. Very sarcastic. Practically _dripping_ sarcasm. "You just tried to attack a Poison-type Pokemon. Nothing wrong with that. Intelligent, well-thought out plan."

I groan again and squeeze my hands into fists. I will not throw up. I won't. "I'm sorry, okay? It was stupid. Really, really stupid."

"I don't think you get it. You could have _died_, Hazel. You're this sick because of one Poison Sting. If that thing had bitten you, you would have been gone. Dead in a few seconds."

He rarely sounds this upset. I force my eyes open and look at him, vaguely surprised. "I - I'm sorry."

Jayce shoves both hands through his dark hair, which is sticking up in all directions. He won't meet my eyes. "You're an idiot."

Now I'm worried. I force an aching arm out from under my blankets and lightly touch his arm. It feels kind of cold. "Jayce. I had to save that girl, okay? I mean - " I take a shuddering breath. _I will not puke._ "You're right. It was stupid. It was incredibly stupid." My arm is trembling visibly from the effort, and I just want to _sleep_. "And...I'm sorry. I guess I don't know what else I can say." I close my eyes and swallow hard, letting my arm go limp. _NO PUKING ALLOWED._

I hear Jayce exhale. "It needs to stop."

I crack open an eye again, still surprised by his tone of voice. "What...what do you mean?"

"This...this 'heroic' stuff that you pull." His fingers sketch quotation marks around 'heroic'. "Like when you ran off in Cherrygrove to try and beat up the thief. And, I mean..." His hands go into his hair again. "Yeah, you saved the girl. But there were better ways to do that than throwing yourself at a highly poisonous Ekans."

"What other way _was_ there?" I demand, although it doesn't sound very threatening. My voice comes out weak. "Splash and Marie were done for. I couldn't just let her die!"

"Well, maybe, if you had _waited_ for me to catch up, if you had said one word about what your plan was when you ran off, we could have handled it together." He's still looking up at the ceiling, at the floor tiles, anywhere but at my bed. "And you wouldn't be lying in a hospital bed when we could be on the road."

I cover my face with my hands. "Okay, okay." I feel like crying. _And_ puking. What a wonderful combination. "I said I was sorry."

Long silence. I don't take my hands from my eyes, trying to think about anything other than my stomach. It's easy, considering that I've now made Jayce angry at me. He's right, of course. Why didn't I wait for him?

A heavy sigh. "Look...Hazel...I'm sorry too. I mean...not about what I said. That was true. You need to start thinking about what you're doing. But I shouldn't have gotten that angry. I just...you could have _died_."

I open my eyes again and look at him. Now he's looking at me, and his warm brown eyes seem to glow in the light streaming in from the window. "No, you were right," I whisper. "I was an idiot. I needed to hear that, I think."

He smiles a little then, and maybe it's the fever, but a warm rush spreads through my chest. He really cares about me. I guess...well, besides for my mom, no one - not even Ethan - has ever shown this much _concern_ before. It feels nice to have a friend who cares this much.

"Get some rest," he says after a pause, pushing back his chair. He smiles again. "And never do anything like that ever again."

I smile weakly. "I'll try as hard as I can."

"Do better than try." He's walking to the exit.

I almost make it.

Right as he gets under the doorway, I lean over and bury my face in the trash can, making God-awful noises.

"That's very attractive," Jayce says, without missing a beat.

I groan.

* * *

The next few hours pass as I sleep, have insanely weird dreams, wake up in a cold sweat, and repeat. Sometimes, when I wake up, Jayce is there. Sometimes, it's a Pokemon Center nurse. Once, I think that Splash and Marie were playing on my bed, but that could have been the fever.

I wake from my weirdest dream yet, in which I met a faceless man in a cave. He had some relation to me - I knew him. I just couldn't think how. The connection was just out of reach, and I couldn't decide if we were friends or enemies. We were in the middle of a Pokemon battle, and he...I strain to remember. He - he told me he was impressed. Like I was supposed to care what he thought.

I shake off the weird dream-feelings, and realize that I feel better. Immensely better. Like...maybe I could get out of the bed.

The needles are still in my arms, though, and there's no one in my room right now. I'm not sure if I can just get up and walk around with tubes in my arms.

So I lie there for what seems like hours, growing steadily more impatient. I don't see an intercom anywhere nearby, and even if there was one, I probably wouldn't know how to use it. Where are the nurses when I need them?

Right as I'm considering ripping the needles out of my arms and making a break for it, the door cracks open and Jayce peeks in. When he sees me awake, he enters, shutting the door behind him. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, actually. I want to try and get up."

"Okay." He doesn't even blink, just extends a hand for me to grab.

I take his hand like we're shaking hands and slowly pull myself to a sitting position. Blood rushes from my head, and spots appear in my eyes. My arm trembles slightly with the effort, but Jayce is supporting me.

"Do you still think you can stand?"

I blink away the spots and wait for the lightheaded feeling to go away. "I think so."

He offers his other hand, too, and I brace myself against his strong arms. I turn and lower my feet to the floor. The cold tile makes me curl my toes, and I realize that I'm barefoot. I notice for the first time that my shoes lay by the door.

"Ready?"

I nod and lean into Jayce's pull, and I'm standing - if a little shakily. There's another lightheaded, dizzy rush, but I hold onto Jayce and wait for it to end. "I'm okay."

"Good. You should eat something." He gestures to the tube. "I mean, they were giving you food through that, along with the poison antidote, but you should eat _real_ food."

"Wait, how long was I out?"

He looks up, thinking. "Hm...two days? You got poisoned Friday evening, we talked Saturday morning, and then you were kind of in and out of consciousness all day Saturday and today."

"So it's evening?" I look at the blinded window in the little hospital room.

"Yeah." He lets go of my hands. "Let's get someone to remove your IV so we can go out to the lobby."

About half an hour later, I'm eating Pokemon Center fast food in the lobby with Jayce and my returned, healed Pokemon, and we're talking about the Rocket attack, and I'm feeling amazingly better.

"The Pokemon the Rockets wanted belonged to the Pokemon Center and the passing trainers," Jayce is explaining. "They were currently being nursed back to health."

"So they were threatening to strangle a little girl..." I shake my head in disbelief. "To steal Pokemon. How morally correct."

Jayce's face darkens. "Well, yeah." There's a pause. "Hazel, didn't our friend Ryker mention something about the Rockets originating in Kanto?"

I nod, smiling a little at his sarcastic use of the word 'friend'. "The region across the ocean."

"Right. But they were shut down." He looks up at the ceiling, his eyebrow quirked up. "So...shouldn't there be records of them? History? Could we figure out how they operate?"

"Maybe." I shrug.

"And why would they come to Johto?" He looks deep in thought now. "_How_ did they come to Johto and reorganize if they were disbanded?"

I roll my eyes. "I don't think it's that big of a deal, really. I mean, they're idiots. Didn't you say that they ran off after you defeated two of their Pokemon?"

Jayce looks at me, shocked. "Hazel, did the poison affect your _memory_? Yes, from what we've seen of them now, they're incompetent. I wouldn't worry about them if it weren't for the fact that _six ancient Pokemon followed you out of the ruins to warn you about them_."

"Jayce, I just told Ryker that. I really have no idea if that's what the message means." I'm not sure what else it _could_ mean, but I really, really don't want to go chasing after Team Rocket. This isn't how my journey is supposed to go. Maybe that's selfish, but I can't help it.

Jayce throws his hands up in the air. "What else could it mean?"

"Well, maybe I'm supposed to build a rocket ship - "

"Stop. Just...stop right there." He pinches the bridge of his nose like he's irritated, but he's fighting to keep a straight face.

I feel a tug on my sleeve, and when I turn, expecting to see Splash or Marie, it's the little girl I saved from the Ekans. She seemed small in the Ekans' grip, but she still looks small here - she must be around the age of four.

"Are you okay?" she whispers. Her face is pink, and she looks nervous.

"Oh, I'm fine, sweetie," I say, feeling my facial expression soften. "How about you?"

"It didn't hurt me," she mutters, tracing the floor with her toe. "But...it almost did."

"Yeah?" I watch her face. "Well, I'm glad you're okay."

"Mommy said you might be dead, and she was really scared because you saved me and she didn't want you to die because you saved me," the girl rambles quickly. "I'm Reilly."

"I'm Hazel. Who's your mommy, Reilly?"

Reilly points to a nurse behind the Pokemon Center counter. She has Reilly's mousy brown hair and piercing blue eyes. So that's why Reilly was here when the Rockets attacked - she probably lives up here with her mother.

"I'm gonna go help her," Reilly mutters, and then sprints off full-speed toward her mother. I smile a little.

"I'm glad she's okay," I say to Jayce.

"Me too." He pauses. "But you shouldn't have gone after her without - "

"I know," I cut him off. "Haven't we already had this discussion?"

"Just reinforcing it," he grins. "You can never be too careful."

I pass a fry to Splash, who is making puppy-dog eyes at me from under the table, and wonder about Team Rocket. What we've seen of them is pathetic, sure, but it does take some kind of skill to corner the Pokemon Center workers, right? Maybe it's a hint at how organized they really are.

"Is there, like, a library anywhere near us?" I ask, thinking about what Jayce said about records.

"Not that I know of." He seems to know why I'm asking the question. "We can ask when we get to Azalea. Speaking of which," he says as he glances up at a clock, "you should be resting. We should head out tomorrow, and we're going through Union Cave."

"A cave?" I frown. "I didn't see a cave."

"You weren't really taking in your surroundings, though, were you?"

"True enough." I stand, scoop up Splash, return Marie to her Pokeball, and head back toward my hospital room. "See you in the morning."

As expected, I don't sleep very well - a mixture of insomnia and the fact that I have slept enough in the past two days to last me a week. I keep thinking about the Rockets, and Reilly, and Jayce, and going on to face another Gym Leader...

And then I remember Jayce's insistence on a training schedule for me, and I get irritated all over again. Splash and I know each other pretty well, and Marie's really smart. We don't _need_ to train extensively, we can battle just fine!

This stubborn thought keeps running through my head until it's rudely interrupted by a hollow tapping sound at about two in the morning.

I start, whipping my head around to see where the noise is coming from.

_Tap, tap, tap-tap-tap. Tap._

Great. All my childhood nightmares have come to life.

The tapping is coming from my window - but that's not all.

A huge orange eye is pressed up against the glass.

**Damn it, Corinne. Stop writing dramatic cliffhangers.**

**NO.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! I liked writing the first scene, with Hazel and Jayce arguing. That kind of dialogue, along with clever banter, is my favorite to write. So yeah! Please drop me a review and let me know what you thought. Thanks so much!**


	12. The Storm

**I am so sorry for taking forever with this update! I have been the busiest child ever this month, and life is being crazy. Plus, this chapter was very difficult to write for me. Anyway, I hope you like it since it took me forever! Dx**

I do the sensible thing.

I squeeze my eyes shut really tight, then open them again, hoping the eye will be gone.

It's not.

_Tap-tap-tap, tap, tap, tap-tap. Tap._

I take a deep breath and try and think logically. It's not a monster, trying to get in to eat me. It's probably just a Pokemon screwing around. It will leave if I don't acknowledge it.

I turn over, back to the eye, and wait.

If anything, the tapping gets more insistent.

_ Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap!_

I grit my teeth, now annoyed, as the tapping becomes rapid-fire and loud. I look down to the foot of my bed where Splash is happily sleeping through the noise.

Making up my mind, I slide my legs out from under the covers, grab Splash (who jerks awake at my touch), and yank the window open.

A feathery, round, brown Pokemon with enormous orange eyes stares calmly at me. It seems to be balancing on one short leg, its stubby wings out for balance.

"What do you want?" I demand, staring at it.

It simply regards me with its huge eyes. This creature doesn't seem to blink enough, and I'm reminded strongly of the Unown.

Then, without warning, it propels itself over the windowsill and flutters to the ground, hopping around lopsidedly on its one leg. It hops in a half circle to look back at me and Splash, then continues its weird little dance, switching legs occasionally.

I grab my backpack from the floor by my bed as it continues to leap around, rotating its round body to look at its surroundings. I pull out the Pokedex and point it at the creature.

"A Hoothoot?" I mutter, scrolling through the information. I've heard of this Pokemon before, only because it's nocturnal and hoots through the night. I've heard its _hoo, hoo_s all too often back in New Bark. This one is a level eight female.

She makes a cooing sound and flutters up to the top of the bedpost, never taking her eyes from me.

"Do you have anything you need to do here?" I ask, stowing the Pokedex back in my bag. "Because otherwise, I'm trying to sleep."

As I say this, I realize that I'm not actually trying to sleep at the moment, so I flop down on my bed. "See? Sleeping."

I swear Splash gives the Totodile version of a chuckle. The Hoothoot just regards me calmly with those huge orange eyes.

I decide to ignore the owlish Pokemon. She's not causing any trouble, anyway. I flip onto my side and curl up under the sheets, waiting for the rustling of wings indicating that she's left, but it never comes.

After fifteen minutes or so, I sneak a glance at my bedpost to find that she's still staring at me.

"God, that's creepy," I inform her, and flip over again. I close my eyes, forcing myself to think about something else. She'll leave if I ignore her. I'll sleep, and she'll be gone in the morning...

* * *

It feels like I closed my eyes for just a second, and now sunlight is streaming through my windows. I stretch and check the time - it's around eight. I turn to slide out of bed and freeze.

That Hoothoot is still sitting on my bedpost, staring at me.

I'm not even making this up.

"Did you even _move_?" I ask, grabbing my backpack and heading to the bathroom to shower and change.

When I reenter the bedroom, the Hoothoot is sitting calmly on my bed like she was just waiting for me to come back.

"Look," I say impatiently, flipping my wet hair over my shoulder and hastily shoving everything I'll need into my backpack. "I don't know what Hoothoot normally do in the mornings, but why aren't you out _doing_ it?"

A slow blink. Other than that, no response.

I grit my teeth, swing my backpack onto my shoulder, and head out the door, Splash at my heels.

Why does the thing even bother me so much? I ask myself, padding down the Pokemon Center hallway. I mean, it probably just wants to stay with me for some unknown reason, right?

I shudder. It's those eyes. They're too creepy.

Jayce is already up, waiting in the lobby. He waves and grins when he sees me.

"Made a new friend?" he asks, pointing behind me as I draw nearer.

I turn slowly to find the Hoothoot hopping along behind Splash. Well, I didn't really expect her to stay in the room.

"Not exactly," I grumble. "She kind of won't leave me alone."

"And you're mad about this...why?" Jayce asks incredulously. "She's a Flying-type - that'll be great when you go up against Bugsy! You have a Pokemon practically begging to be on your team and you're _annoyed_?"

I sigh. I can't exactly tell him that I don't want her because her eyes scare me. It's stupid and irrational, anyway. I reluctantly turn to the little owl, who stands on one leg and regards me impassively.

"Okay," I say, crouching down. "You want to come with me?"

The creature makes a cooing noise and blinks.

"I'll take that as a yes." I scrutinize her. "What should I call you?"

Plenty of names run through my mind - many of them not exactly complimentary and involving large, creepy, orange eyes and blank stares. However, one name kind of pops out at me. I'm not even sure how I thought of it, really.

"Nella," I say aloud. The Hoothoot clicks her beak and coos, fluttering her wings happily.

All right. It's better than Stalker, anyway.

"Ready to go?" Jayce asks as I take out one of Joy's Pokeballs and put Nella inside of it.

I nod and slip Nella's Pokeball in my pocket along with Marie's.

During our few days in the Pokemon Center, the clear, bright skies have disappeared, to be replaced with angry, purplish clouds. The air is thick with moisture and I feel the tension of a storm in the atmosphere. Splash sniffs the air curiously.

"You picked some great traveling days to miss," Jayce says. "Clear skies all through the time you were laying in a hospital bed, and as soon as you get up, a storm decides to hit."

For a moment, I'm prepared to defend myself again, but he shoots me a small smile and I know he's joking. "We're going through a cave anyway, aren't we? So the storm shouldn't affect us that much." I point to the cave opening looming closer as we head towards it.

"The weather reports disagree," Jayce says. "This cave should only take us a few minutes, and apparently it's a huge storm. It's expected to last anywhere from three to five days."

"Wow. Impressive."

"Not for battling. We might have to use the cave as your training area for a while," Jayce says, and an irritated jolt goes through me. Again with the training. "Most wild Pokemon won't want to come out in the rain."

I don't say anything. I haven't lost a battle yet, and I don't intend to start with Bugsy. I haven't needed to train up until this point, so what makes Jayce think I need it? He doesn't even battle, anyway...

I pull my hair back into a ponytail - the humidity is making it stick to my neck. The cool cave looks pretty inviting at this point. As we get closer, I see that a sign marks it as 'Union Cave'.

"We'll see a bunch of new Pokemon in here," Jayce says, obviously oblivious to my irritation. "Once you start training regularly, it'll be good for your team to go up against some new - "

"Uh-huh," I say, cutting him off. What doesn't he get? "Look, maybe I don't need a 'training plan' or 'schedule' or whatever," I fiddle with the end of my ponytail, avoiding his eyes. I say it as casually as I can, stomach turning. Why am I so defensive about this, anyway?

He looks at me, surprised. "What?"

I exhale loudly, frustrated with myself and him. "Well, I beat Falkner without this 'regular training' stuff, didn't I? And I haven't lost a battle yet, have I?" I steal a glance at Jayce's face. His eyebrow has shot up.

"Hazel, Bugsy is a completely different story. His Pokemon will be _way_ stronger than Falkner's. And, while you did great against Falkner, it was really, really close. Without Marie, you would have lost for sure."

"But I'll _have_ Marie against Bugsy," I say patiently.

"You've barely worked with her!" he says incredulously, voice rising now. We duck through the entrance of the cave into a soft, dusk-like light. Dim lanterns have been placed at regular intervals on the ground, so that we can still see the ground ahead of us.

I hear the storm rumble menacingly, unseen now above us. "Well, Marie's really good without help," I offer. "Remember how she totally took down Falkner's best Pokemon?"

"Yeah, I do! And so I don't know why you're objecting to making her even stronger! She could be a great Pokemon!" Jayce's voice has gone from incredulous to irritated.  
"So...she's not already?" The words tumble from my mouth, and as soon as I say them, I wish I could take them back.

Jayce's mouth falls open. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Of course it's not," I mutter. I mean the words genuinely, really I do - don't I? - but they come out sarcastic and hard. I swallow.

There's a very tense silence for a long time. We pick our way around boulders and small, clear pools of water. A huge clap of thunder makes me flinch.

"Hazel," Jayce says more calmly. "What's the biggest thing holding the thief back?"

I give a start and turn to him. I was not expecting that question. Where is he going with this? "Uh, the fact that he's a jackass?"

For a second, I think he smiled, but maybe it was just the lantern light flickering, because it's gone in a moment. "See, the Elder in Violet City said it was his mistreatment of Pokemon. How he only takes and doesn't give." He runs a hand through his hair. "But to me, his arrogance is almost worse. How he just assumes he's better than everyone and no one can offer him anything." He's carefully not looking at me.

Shock courses through me. I open my mouth, close it again. Is he implying what I think he's implying?

"Hazel, all I'm saying is...be careful," he says, almost tiredly.

I don't speak to him throughout the rest of the cave. I can't believe he would compare me to the thief, call me arrogant. Do I run around stealing Pokemon, mistreating them? Do I make a habit of sneering at people and insulting them? No. No, I don't. Would the thief have saved that girl from the Ekans's grip? So I don't want to train so intensively. How does that make me like the thief?

_You know exactly why that makes you like the thief_, says a disapproving voice in the back of my head.

I shove this voice even farther to the back of my mind, where I can't hear it anymore.

By the time we exit the cave, the first few fat drops of rain are spattering onto the ground, and an idea has entered my mind. A plan that involves proving Jayce wrong. He shouldn't have to question my abilities. Obviously, he doesn't think I'm a good enough trainer on my own. Well, he'll see.

We slide along on slick, wet grass, and Splash falls on her face quite a few times. The rain quickly gets harder and harder, so that soon I'm drenched and Jayce's hair is plastered to his head. I have to bite back a laugh at the sight.

Soon, our visibility is all but completely obscured by the pouring sheets of rain, and I'm shivering violently, feeling like I'm swimming in an ice-cold pool.

A white-hot burst of lightning illuminates the path ahead of us, and I see a muddy path that is probably hard-packed dirt when it's not being barraged by rain. We must be on the outskirts of town by now.

"We should probably get to a Pokemon Center," I say loudly over the rush of rain in my ears. An enormous thunder clap follows my words, and lightning illuminates Jayce's face as he nods.

I push away the spike of guilt that rises in me at the fact that he won't meet my eyes.

* * *

Once we reach the town's Pokemon Center, we separate into our own rooms, never speaking to each other. After toweling off and changing clothes, I remain in my room, laying on my bed and staring up at the ceiling.

Jayce accused me of arrogance. He compared me to the thief. He thinks I can't take care of my own training. I grit my teeth and dig my fingernails into the palms of my hands. I hate feeling this way toward him, but I can't help it.

Maybe a better part of me knows how stupid I'm being. But right now, that part of me isn't in control.

I roll off the bed, scoop up Splash, and retrieve both Marie's and Nella's Pokeballs from the pockets of my jeans. I glance around the room, thinking. I don't think I should march out into the lobby. Jayce might be there. Quickly, not letting myself think about it, I shove open the window in my room.

Rain immediately starts trickling down the wall, forming a nice little puddle on the floor, and I shove myself through the gap, setting Splash on the ground before I land in the mud with a squelch.

Splash happily dances from foot to foot, ecstatic to be back in the ice-cold, pouring rain. One of the perks of being a water Pokemon, I guess.

I'm at the back of the Pokemon Center. I set Splash on my shoulder, slide my window closed, and hurry up to the front, careful not to slip on the mucky dirt path, which sinks about four inches everywhere I step.

I have no idea where the Gym is, but I'll find it. I see the bright lights of a large building shining in the distance and head towards it. I feel reckless, charged with adrenaline. There's no feeling of panic like there was before my first Gym match. This time will be different. I'll enter confident and exit triumphant.

* * *

I lean against the side of the Pokemon Center, pressing a fist to the side of my head. What the _hell_ was I thinking?

Tears burn in my eyes. I feel angry energy burning inside of me still, but it's myself I'm angry with. I feel like I can't face myself, can't face the reality of what I just did and why I just did it.

Splash, down from three jabs of a Poison Sting. Water Gun and Scratch barely made a dent. Nella, Tackled about twice before she passed out. She's never even battled with me before. That was her first impression. And then Marie, crushed in an easy, one-hit KO...

I bite my lip so hard I taste blood. I just took my Pokemon into a situation where I _knew_ they would get hurt. And, I mean, I guess I do that whenever I have them battle, but this was different. This time, I didn't do it because I wanted them to grow, or because I needed them to help me get past an obstacle like a trainer.

I did it...I wipe the rain from my face, a pointless action because of how quickly the rain is coming down. I did it because of pride.

I grit my teeth and blink furiously. I won't cry about this. This was my own stupidity.

Jayce was just being realistic by talking about a training schedule. Yeah, sure, I hadn't lost a battle up until now, but that was with the raw talent of my Pokemon and me as a trainer. And talent can only get you so far.

I shake my head and take a steadying breath. I was just like the thief. I led my Pokemon into a painful situation for my own gain. I thought I was invincible. I thought I couldn't fail. I lashed out at Jayce because he was _right_, and I totally knew it.

I sink to the muddy ground, my face in my hands. I have to pull myself together before I walk into the Pokemon Center. I'm covered in mud and rain and my eyes are probably red. If it weren't for the fact that my Pokemon need to be healed, I might consider sleeping out here to avoid humiliation...

A hand presses on my shoulder. "Hazel?" I lift my head, too worn out to jump. It's Jayce. Fantastic.

His eyes widen in concern at the sight of my face. "What's going on? What's happened? You weren't in your room or the lobby..."

It's too much. I feel tears leaking out of my eyes and turn away, but not quickly enough.

"Hazel, come here." He holds out his arms, and I don't hesitate to lean into him, hating myself for being like this. It hurts to have him still care when I argued with him earlier.

We just sit there together for a while as the storm rages around us. I'm uncomfortable and wet, and I'm sure Jayce is too, but I can't bring myself to get up. I close my eyes and breathe in the damp air, focusing on Jayce's arms around me, forbidding myself to cry anymore.

"I challenged Bugsy," I whisper when I'm back in control of my breathing. I feel him stiffen. "I'm an idiot. I'm so, so, so sorry." I give a hysterical, hiccup-like laugh. This is so ridiculous. "You were one hundred percent right. I was arrogant. I was just like the thief. I shouldn't have gotten angry with you. It's all my fault, and..." I sigh. "I'm just so sorry."

He doesn't say anything for a while, which makes me nervous. Finally, he pulls away from me, keeping his hands on my shoulders, looking me straight in the eyes.

"Know what?"

My hands start to shake. "What?"

"You're not at all like the thief."

"Why? My Pokemon got slaughtered, you should have seen the battle, it was the dumbest thing I've ever done - "

"Yeah. But you blame yourself." His eyes glint in the darkness of the pounding rain. "The thief is always looking for a scapegoat. He blames his Pokemon for everything, right? That's why he mistreats them. He doesn't really consider that it could be his own decisions that make him lose battles."  
I blink. "But...I was still an arrogant douchebag."

Jayce grins. "Yup. But you're a _remorseful_ arrogant douchebag. There's hope for you yet."

I laugh shakily, and Jayce helps me up. Together, we head towards the Pokemon Center, and the rain suddenly doesn't seem quite so cold.

**You like? Sorry for not updating for millions of years :/ Review if you want to be cool! **


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